Four Corners, Turmeric Fraud, and Why We Trust Our Supply Chain

This week's ABC Four Corners investigation, Duped: Food Exposed, was a genuinely uncomfortable watch for anyone in the herb and spice trade. Working with forensic laboratory Source Certain, the program tested 28 turmeric products from 11 brands across 14 stores. Three brands failed.

The findings were stark. One major spice brand's turmeric contained lead chromate — an illegal pigment used in paints and plastics — along with iron oxide added for colour and weight, in 3 of 4 products tested. The same brand was fined by the ACCC in 2017 for bulking oregano with olive leaves. Another brand's "finest" turmeric had been bulked with a cheaper starchy plant-based filler not declared on the label. A third, marketed as "pure," contained unidentified non-turmeric plant material.

The program also found that testing for dangerous contaminants at the Australian border has declined since 2019, and that honey is the only food routinely tested for adulteration — at just 5%. Salmonella in spices is a recurring failure category, particularly for imported products.

We've had customers reach out since it aired, asking a fair and reasonable question: how do we know what's in our herbs and spices is genuinely what the label says?

Here's our honest answer.

We source deliberately, not anonymously

Every herb, spice and superfood we sell comes through relationships we've built over years, with suppliers we know — not an anonymous global spot market. Food fraud thrives in supply chains where no one is accountable for what happens between the farm and the shelf. Ours doesn't work that way.

Our own certifications aren't just paperwork

The Herbal Connection holds SXC Certified Organic Processor certification (No. 24041) and HACCP certification (No. 7474-2051-01), both independently audited on a recurring basis. That matters because the investigation showed that a certificate alone isn't proof of anything — what matters is whether the testing behind it actually happened.

We're going further, off the back of this investigation

Trusting our supply chain doesn't mean assuming nothing could ever go wrong — it means having the systems in place to catch it if it did, and being willing to check. In direct response to what Duped: Food Exposed uncovered, we've asked every one of our suppliers to formally confirm, in writing:

• That every batch they supply us is tested for authenticity, purity and colour additives, or comes with a valid Certificate of Analysis from an accredited lab
• That it's free from undeclared fillers, bulking agents, mineral additives, or substituted ingredients
• That the origin and compliance documentation they give us is accurate and can be verified against the specific batch supplied

We also maintain our own Food Safety Plan, Organic Handling Plan, and Food Safety Statement, covering the receipt, handling, processing and dispatch of everything that passes through our facility. This isn't a reaction to a problem we've found in our own products — it's confidence we want to be able to back up with paper, not just goodwill.

We're happy to show our work

If you'd like to see the Certificate of Analysis or Certificate of Conformance behind a product you've bought from us — including our turmeric — just get in touch with the product name and batch number if you have it. We'd genuinely rather you check than wonder.

— The Herbal Connection