Palm oil withdrawal betrays absence of EU rules on contaminants

The withdrawal of a palm oil product from supermarket shelves in Malta once again rekindles the problem of machine lubricants that seep into the world’s most consumed edible oil during processing.

In 2019, a batch of African palm oil from Ghana had been withdrawn from supermarket shelves in Malta due to its contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Last week, the Environmental Health Directorate withdrew yet again another palm oil product, this time from Nigeria, branded ‘Nigerian Heritage’.

The hydrocarbons found in red palm oil are usually released from burning coal, oil, and gasoline as lubricants for machinery that turn palm fruit into the oil used to make everything from infant formula to chocolate. The lubricant can sometimes come into contact with the product.

The solution is to use food-grade lubricants, which however can cost eight to 10 times more than petroleum-based or synthetic counterparts – a cost that hurts profit margins.

The palm oil industry, long accused of large-scale deforestation, has been repeatedly requested by European food companies to cut the amount of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH) found in palm oil.

MOAH containments are also found across several food products, including vegetable oils, such as soy and sunflower, and can enter food through packaging materials, additives or during storage.

Some are carcinogenic: while the European Food Safety Authority flagged them as a potential health concern in 2012, the latest EFSA research states that one type of MOAH may contain genotoxic substances that can damage DNA in cells and may cause cancer. For substances such as these, a safe level cannot be established. “Our experts recommended more research to be done on the type of MOAH present in food and more toxicity data to be collected to better assess the risks they pose. They also said it is important to keep studying the possible long-term effects of MOSH on human health,” the EFSA said.

EU rules will phase out palm oil from renewable fuel by 2030, because of concerns about deforestation, but there are no European regulations on mineral oil hydrocarbons in food except for that calling on member states to monitor their presence in food with the involvement of food business operators, manufacturers, processors and distributers of food contact materials.

The problem of the transition of mineral oils from recycled cardboard packaging into food has been known since the 1990s. However, to date there is no regulation in Europe that protects consumers from mineral oil in food.

The Berlin-based Foodwatch, a watchdog on food safety and against food fraud, says many staples such as rice, pasta, cereals, and chocolate can be contaminated with harmful mineral oil hydrocarbons, occurring at any stage of food processing, whether during harvest or even via packaging from printing inks.