FDA: Buy Palm Oil From Reliable Sources

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) of Ghana has cautioned palm oil consumers to be wary of the sources of their oil following a reported 30% detection of Sudan IV dye in some palm oil during the authority’s survey last year.

According to the FDA, a lot of measures are underway to check the illegality in various markets across Ghana.

Among the measures include the interception and safe disposal of all sampled products found to be contaminated on the market, intensification of public education on Sudan IV dye adulteration in palm oil with the traders and other stakeholders and also undertaking a weekly product monitoring to ensure compliance.

Additionally, the FDA is encouraging all traders to package their products and get them registered through their Progressive Licensing Scheme (PLS) programme aimed at helping small and micro-scale entrepreneurs to ensure the safety of the product for the general public.

“Consumers should note where they buy their products from and always buy from a reliable source that can be traced easily”, the FDA educated.

JoyNews reports that in October last year, the Authority sampled palm oils from major markets across the country including 10 major markets in Greater Accra to test for the presence of Sudan IV dye leading to several arrests.

The Laboratory analysis indicated that out of the 306 samples analysed, 70 representing failed the test for Sudan IV dye. Except for the Upper West Region, all the regions had one or more samples from their markets testing positive for the presence of Sudan IV dye with Greater Accra recording the highest failure rate (60.8%), JoyNews said.

Sudan IV dye is a chemical used in the production of textiles, leather, plastics, papers, hair, mineral oils, waxes, and cosmetics and not to be ingested.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini