FDA to begin swoops to confiscate adulterated palm oil

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) will begin random swoops at palm oil processing points to confiscate dye-contaminated palm oil, an official has said.

Head of Food Safety at the FDA, Mariam Lovelace Johnson, revealed Tuesday on PM Express on the Joy News channel (Multi TV) that although some of the contaminated palm oil have been seized and destroyed, a nationwide swoop will begin Wednesday.

“When you start [confiscation] at the retail level, it’s just like dealing with branches, we want to deal with the roots and the stem [processors and suppliers], and get to the bottom of the problem,” Lovelace Johnson said.

She would not reveal where the swoops will begin from as it would compromise the plan, but said it they will begin at dawn on Wednesday.

The FDA revealed this week that about 98% of palm oil in the market was contaminated with dye used in clothes, Sudan IV, in a bid to get product look redder and appealing to consumers.

The FDA says the dye cannot be flushed out of the human body system and can cause severe health problems including cancer.

The FDA has since warned against the consumption of palm oil sold in markets across the country .

Although the Authority says it has currently heightened its market surveillance, it says Madam Lovelace Johnson says there is need for consumers to begin taking food safety and hygiene more seriously.

She notes that "Ghanaians make a joke out of food safety. People think 'African germs' are not harmful."

The Food and Drugs Authority, FDA, in June began investigation into an alert by the Tower Hamlets Council of the United Kingdom that palm oil purported to have been exported from Ghana to that country contains cancer causing agent - Sudan IV Dye.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]