New food safety alerts: Mineral oil residues found in crisps and cooking oils
- Mineral oil in foods
foodwatch urges EU to act
In light of new product recalls and concerning lab test results, the consumer organisation foodwatch urges the European Commission and EU Member States to finally adopt strict and enforceable rules against harmful mineral oil contamination in food.
Three recent cases from Germany, the Netherlands and France highlight the urgency to take protective action:
- In the Netherlands, several Lay’s crisps products have been recalled after authorities detected excessive levels of aromatic mineral oils. Producer PepsiCo Netherlands issued a clear warning: “This poses a health risk. Do not eat the crisps."
- In France, several batches of frozen potato croquettes from a retailer’s own brand were recalled for the same reasons, accompanied with the same warning to stop eating the products.
- In Germany, a consumer magazine tested 50 vegetable oils and found mineral oil residues (both saturated and aromatic) in the majority of them – 30 products were rated “poor”, one even “unsatisfactory”. Retailer Rewe has already pulled a highly contaminated pumpkin seed oil from the shelves.
“These new tests and recalls are not isolated incidents – they show just how widespread and serious the problem of mineral oil contamination in food still is today. Yet, as foodwatch has always advocated, it could be avoided with a strong European law”, said foodwatch’s Natacha Cingotti.
After organisations such as foodwatch have been pointing out the problem of mineral oil contamination for years, the European Commission and Member States are now discussing a draft law. A leaked draft of the planned EU regulation currently under negotiation shows some progress but still sets excessively high limits and allows long transition periods for certain food products. It also leaves uncertainty in the approach to ensuring minimal mineral oil contaminations in the final products. Overall, this would keep consumers unprotected for years to come.
Documents obtained by foodwatch under freedom of information law earlier this year show that some Member States have been raising similar concerns as foodwatch about the complexity and enforceability of the proposal, while others appear to have relayed industry pressure to obtain exemptions (e.g. for the vegetable oils sector).
“There is no more time for hesitations. Member States must step up their game by closing loopholes and speed up their negotiations to ensure that a highly protective law is voted as soon as possible and that mineral oils contamination in food becomes history”, demanded Natacha Cingotti.
Some mineral oils, such as the aromatic ones (also called MOAH), are suspected genotoxic carcinogens and foodwatch has always advocated for a zero-tolerance approach in order to fully protect consumers. Existing orientation values already used in Germany by the food industry in coordination with authorities show that reducing mineral oils contamination with stricter limits than what is currently discussed at EU level is already possible.
In an initial Europe-wide test in 2015, foodwatch had already pointed out mineral contamination in many foods. Since then, the European consumer organisation has been campaigning for effective regulation. At the time of writing, almost 240,000 people have signed a foodwatch petition – supported by WeMove – to the European Commission asking for zero-tolerance for mineral oils in food.