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Carcinogenic Oil Discovered in Breakfast Cereals
Research carried out by Dr Koni Grob at the government-funded food safety laboratory, Canton, Zurich last year tested a sample of 119 products bought from German supermarkets. The study discovered worrying amounts of carcinogenic mineral oils had been absorbed through the packaging into foodstuffs.
Dr Grob told the BBC that 30 products from these 119 were free of mineral oil but, “For the others they all exceeded the limit, and most exceeded it more than 10 times, and we calculated that in the long run they would probably exceed the limit 50 times on average and many will exceed it several hundred times.”
European manufacturers have routinely been mixing cardboard packaging that is made up of 50 percent “virgin board” from newly harvested trees with recycled materials.
Why is Mineral Oil in the Packaging?
Mineral oil is an essential component of the inks used in the print process on packaging and newspapers. Sadly, the technology does not yet exist whereby the recycling process can remove all the mineral oil so that much of it remains in the recycled cardboard.
Mineral oils are comprised of hydrocarbon molecules that are shaped in chains and rings and can leak out in gaseous form from the cardboard and be absorbed into the food. Foodstuffs most likely to be contaminated are those with a large surface area relative to volume e.g. flour, rice, semolina or breakfast cereals.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (FDA) believes that “in general, such foodstuff contamination is adverse” and finds that “the migration of mineral oil from recycled paper and cardboard to foodstuffs should be minimised immediately”.
In the short term the FDA recommends applying the ‘precautionary principle’ and that inner bags should be used to stop direct contact between food and the cardboard and minimise contamination.
Top Brands Now Looking for New Packaging Solutions
Only one company, Jordans, has so far responded with an all out ban of the use of recycled paper. Meanwhile Kellogg’s, who make $13 billion per year, is the world’s leading producer of cereal and convenience foods, are considering a change in their policy on recyclables.
A spokesman for Kellogg’s said the international giant was working with its suppliers on new packaging “which allows us to meet our environmental commitments but will also contain significantly lower levels of mineral oil.” The company is also considering alternative inner liners for its packets.
Meanwhile the UK’s Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain’s food companies, took a less cautious approach saying that the Swiss study was “a good starting point for further investigations” – but not enough in itself to justify discontinuing the use of recycled card.”
Cancer Risks to Various Internal Organs
Although there is no definitive proof that regular ingestion of mineral oils will likely lead to human cancers, studies on rats have proven the dangers to health of mineral oils. But researchers believe that consumers who have been exposed to contaminated foods over many years are most at risk.
Animal studies show that ingesting even small amounts of mineral oil may accumulate and damage the liver, heart valves and lymph nodes. Dr Grob left this sobering warning to consumers and manufacturers, “Toxicologists talk about two effects. One is the chronic inflammation of various internal organs and the other one is cancer.”
The full BBC story may be read at bbc.co.uk.
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