Consumers warned over contaminated sunflower oil
Spain’s Health Ministry has advised people not to consume sunflower oil after a contaminated batch was found in a shipment from Ukraine that has been delivered to Spain and at least three other countries, a ministry spokesman said today.
The ministry had received a warning from France, where a shipment of the oil was found to be contaminated with a hydrocarbon from mineral oil.
The Spanish spokesman said that a shipment of the oil arrived at Rotterdam and that France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain had received deliveries. But he said it may also have been delivered to many other European countries.
The contamination was almost certainly accidental and may have arisen from the oil having passed through a tank where mineral oil had been stored previously, the spokesman said.
Food companies were already withdrawing products from retail outlets, he said.
The ministry posted a warning on its website late Friday advising that most of the contaminated oil had already been withdrawn from stores.
Consumers would soon be given a list of brands that may have been affected, the spokesman said.
The ministry did not specify what effects the oil could have on consumers’ health other than to say it was toxic.
Spain consumes 310,000 metric tons of sunflower oil a year, a figure that represents 34% of all cooking oils used, according to the national association of bottlers and refiners of edible oils.
Olive oil is Spain’s favourite oil, with 475,000 metric tons used annually.
