We are using everyday spices in food as pigment taste, flavor of foods or in human diet and some of them have great benefits for our health and body. In Albania the type of spices in food has been increased in recent years and these vary from country to country, depending on the type of soil and how they are grown. Thus, the aim of this current study attempts to determine the level of radioactivity in different types of spices, which are consumed by people living in the city of Tirana in Albania, where is concentrated the largest number of the population and to estimate their effective dose to the human body. Samples of spices are collected randomly in some different markets in Tirana city, which may be produced in Albania or imported. The activity concentration of natural radionuclides of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th were measured in twenty types of spices. A high-resolution HPGe detector was employed to perform the measurements. The obtained results indicate that ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th was detected in all selected samples for study, whereas the presence of artificial radionuclide of ¹³⁷Cs was found only in two spices samples. ⁴⁰K activity concentration varies from 173.72 ± 9.34 Bq kg^-1 to 849.47 ± 39.36 Bq kg^-1. The range of activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra varies from 5.15 ± 0.52 Bq kg^-1 to 21.01 ± 1.80 Bq kg^-1. The activity concentration of ²³²Th varies from 2.04 ± 0.31 Bq kg^-1 to 21.90 ± 1.78 Bq kg^-1. The estimated Average Annual Committed Effective Dose (AACED) due to ingestion of these spices varies from 5.61 ± 0.29 μSv y^-1 to 10.91 ± 0.56 μSv y^-1. All these values are far below than the world average value dose for individual of 290 μSv y^-1 for all foods reported by UNSCEAR 2000. This indicates that no risk is expected by the intake of spices samples in food. The obtained data provide us the baseline levels of natural radioactivity and background information for future research on foodstuff for radiological protection of the human.

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