No Ban On Palm Oil -Mensah

The general manager of the Ghana Export Promotion Council, Mr. Adu Mensah, has denied media reports that palm oil from Ghana has been banned in the UK.

“The British did not ban palm oil from Ghana. They said they had seen a banned item being used in the processing of palm oil, he said. He explained that the palm oil brands that contained the substance Sudan IV dye, came from a small group of people and companies which did not belong to any of the 74 major exporters, who produce more than 7000 tonnes of palm oil worth $300milion annually.

Mr. Mensah, who was speaking in Accra yesterday said the council was furnished with the list of the six companies, adding that it had contacted the companies involved and was yet to investigate what actually went wrong. Mr. Mensah also said the companies did not register with the council, adding that the council had started registering the small groups about two years ago. Meanwhile the food and drugs board would next Tuesday meet its social partners in the palm oil export industry to resolve the problem that resulted in the poor quality of some of the products in the UK market.

Some Ghanaian palm oil brands are being investigated by the British health authorities for suspected contamination. The brands under investigations are Golden Sun, Jumbo, Tropical Sun Zomi and Blue Ray. They were identified as containing significant quantities of the banned dye, Sudan IV.