GHANA – Five trucks loaded with Palm oil from Kade in the Eastern Region sent to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for testing has come out negative from Sudan IV.
Following public alert that some of the edible palm oil contain Sudan IV, drivers who transport the palm oil to the various markets said the trade had taken a down-turn and indicated their readiness to collaborate with the FDA to ensure that palm oil they carted to the markets were safe for consumption.
The drivers have, therefore, volunteered to take the palm oil to the FDA for testing before they send them to market centres to avoid eventualities, which they say had not been good for the business.
Head of Communications of the Authority, James Lartey told the GNA that another truck loaded with palm oil had also been brought for testing and was awaiting results.
He noted that the palm oil had been dispatched to the Dome, Madina and Abgobloshie markets, and the FDA would continue with the market surveillance until the menace was nib in the bud.
The palm oil business is in bad times after the FDA drew public attention that palm oil containing Sudan IV was likely to cause cancer.
The Authority has asked suppliers to volunteer testing their products or risk being punished, if test on seized products showed contamination.
The FDA had earlier revealed that 98 percent of those tested earlier were contaminated and cautioned the public against consuming palm oil.
It said “Zomie (palm oil) contains a lot of Sudan IV which has carcinogenic substances that can cause a lot of health complications.”
The FDA heightened its market surveillance after discovering palm oil samples picked from 10 markets in the Greater Accra Region contained the highly dangerous textile dye which causes cancer.
Out of the earlier 50 palm oil samples the FDA randomly took from various market centres, 98 percent of them tested positive for the Sudan IV dye.
Sudan IV dye in palm oil was detected outside Ghana some months ago. The British Foods Standard Agency (FSA) issued a recall notice to a sales outlet that stocked un-labelled Ghanaian palm oil and which was said to have contained the carcinogenic Sudan dye.
GNA
November 11, 2015; http://www.ghananewsagency.org/health/trucks-of-palm-oil-test-negative-to-contamination-96873
