Guangdong’s food safety regulator has discovered carcinogenic mildew-tainted cooking oil in the newest overhaul on food safety.
Known as aflatoxin in scientific terminology, the cancer-causing mildew has sparked off extensive public concern over dairy products’ safety after being uncovered in milk products from dairy company Mengniu Dairy Group in late 2011.
In a statement, the Guangdong Provincial Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision said it discovered excessive amounts of aflatoxin in cooking oil products, mainly peanut cooking oil, produced by 20 small firms.
The agency said majority of the cooking oil products were bought in bulk by nearby residents, and attributed the food safety scare to negligent screening over production materials. It also said it has invalidated the production licenses of the 20 companies and ordered them to withdraw the tainted products.
High levels of aflatoxin, which is produced by fungi that usually grow on crops like peanuts and grains, have been shown to cause cancer in animal tests.
In late 2011, aflatoxin caught national attention after being discovered in high amounts in Mengniu dairy products. According to initial investigation, the contamination was due to mildewed feed given to cows in the company’s plant in the province of Sichuan.
Mengniu has released a public apology online but asserted that the problem was found before the tainted product hit the market.
