EtOx contamination spreads: dozens of products recalled

An increasing number of food products are being recalled because of an excessive concentration of ethylene oxide, a fungicide known to be a cancer-causing agent. Yesterday, Kiri cheese spread and ice cream products of the Mars brands Bounty, M&M’s, Snickers, and Twix were recalled.

Problem in India

Ethylene oxide is a pesticide used in agriculture to combat fungi and bacteria. In Europe, the use of the substance is banned, but in countries like India, it is still widely used. According to toxicologist Jan Tytgat (University of Leuven), the substance is not directly harmful in small quantities. However, “those who eat products containing contaminated sesame seed for days on end have an increased risk of cancer, especially kidney and liver cancer”, he told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

The initial problems with ethylene oxide (‘EtOx’ in short) in Belgium surfaced last year, after the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) checked a cargo of sesame seeds from India. They found the sesame seed to exceed the European standard of 0.05 milligram EtOx per kilo. The scandal quickly spread to the rest of the European Union, resulting in numerous recalls.

Ice creams

In the past few months, some forty products have been withdrawn from the Belgian shelves. These included ice cream of various private labels and brands, spreadable cheeses, black pepper and turmeric.

The Kiri cheese spreads and the ice cream versions of Bounty, M&M’s, Snickers and Twix now suffer the same fate. “Europe has tightened the inspections”, Hélène Bonte of the FASFC says. “The more products that are inspected, the more that can be recalled. Even if the contaminating raw material is only present in minimal quantities in the final product.”