Morocco withdraws Ukrainian sunflower oil from market

Morocco will withdraw a batch of Ukrainian sunflower oil from its market as part of the country's precaution measures following the discovery of batches of contaminated sunflower oil imported from this country in several European Union (EU) countries, the agriculture and fisheries Ministry said.

The announcement followed the discovery on April 23, of batches of this oil in five EU member-countries, namely, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The ministry also reported, in a press release, that the Moroccan batch of the Ukrainian sunflower oil had been imported to Morocco in 2008, noting that controls revealed that the oil concerned represents no risk for health, but the government nevertheless decided to withdraw it from the market and to subject all sunflower oils to new quality controls.

The five EU countries are removing contaminated Ukrainian sunflower oil from shop shelves even though they agree that it doesn't pose a serious risk to human health, the European Commission said on Monday.

A 40,000-tonnes cargo of unrefined oil, which arrived in France by sea, was split into seven re-export batches to Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, and within France.

Diesel Oil?

While the exact nature of the contamination is unclear, it is classified as a "mineral oil" -- possibly some kind of lubricant or diesel oil, Commission food safety officials say -- while shipment dates and consignment volumes are still unclear. "We don't think it is sufficient to cause acute health problems at this stage," Commission spokesman Michael Mann told a daily news briefing. "We are still waiting for information from the Ukrainian authorities so that we can be sure," one official told reporters. More data was due from Ukraine later on Monday.

So far, the Commission -- which administers EU policy, including food safety standards, for the bloc's 27 countries -- is treating the case as fraud, until shown otherwise. "The quantities (of tainted material) found did not come from cross-contamination," the official said. "This does not give rise to a toxicological risk but it is not supposed to be in sunflower oil," he added. After a more detailed assessment of the risk of the oil contaminant's presence within sunflower oil, Commission food safety experts -- in conjunction with EU national authories -- would decide whether EU-wide action was needed, Mann said.

EU authorities had asked the four countries that received batches of Ukrainian sunflower oil to trace them throughout their food production and distribution chains, he said. "Everything that is being done by the member states is sufficient as far as we are concerned," Mann said. "But this is a fraud that has been committed."
"The advice we're giving to consumers is that the four member states where this oil may have arrived are taking the necessary action to remove it from the market."

Spain: not sure which or why.

The Spanish response has been the most confused with Spanish chef Antonio Gonzalez saying authorities have told him to remove some oil but he is not sure why or which ones.

Contaminated rapeseed oil was blamed for the death of some 1,200 people in 1981 in Spain's worst food poisoning epidemic. It was sold as olive oil in working-class neighbourhoods of Madrid and several other cities.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news