Ingesting toxins, the Lankan way

Monday 29th March, 2021

The government, reeling from a thundering hook at the hands of the Millers’ Mafia, and embroiled in a mega sugar tax racket, has had another problem to contend with. A consignment of imported coconut oil has been found to contain a carcinogenic toxin; the detection of high levels of aflatoxin, which can cause cancer, has sent shock waves throughout the country as the traditional New Year is drawing near. This is usually the time when Sri Lankans step up the intake of rice, sugar and oil as if they had a death wish. They will not take kindly to high prices of rice and sugar, and a possible shortage of coconut oil, or the government’s failure to ensure that cooking oils available in the market are safe to consume.

Some state officials have been quoted as saying the harmful coconut oil consignment will be re-exported forthwith. This decision seems to have struck a responsive chord with the public, but how advisable that course of action is the question. There is the danger of the cancer-causing oil stock finding its way into another developing country, where consumer protection laws are lax and officials responsible for enforcing them venal. If it is not possible to destroy the contaminated coconut oil safely, here, the government had better alert the world to the possibility of racketeers dumping it elsewhere for the consumption of either humans or animals.

We do not seem to have learnt from past rackets such as the importation of a consignment of milk powder contaminated with Dicyanamide. A public outcry it gave rise to reached fever pitch, and protests jolted the then government into taking some action, but nobody knows what actually became of the stock of contaminated milk powder. Issues crop up in this country at such a rate that nobody can keep track of them.

Besides contaminated edible oils, there are several commodities that contain carcinogenic substances. Some harmful food additives are widely used to enhance flavour, mono sodium glutamate being one of them in high demand. Restaurants use them liberally with no regard for public health. Many Medical Officers of Health, and Public Health Inspectors are maintained with public funds, but hardly any action is taken against the errant food sellers who endanger the lives of their customers.

Tobacco products, especially cigarettes, cigars and beedi, are known to cause cancer and various other non-communicable diseases. If defies comprehension why action is taken only against the importers of contaminated edible oils while the manufacturers and sellers of coffin nails aka fags are operating with impunity. Politicians and officials disregard the fact that the economic and social costs of smoking far outweigh the short-term economic gains derived by way of taxes on tobacco products.

The country should be thankful to Opposition MP Buddhika Pathirana, who blew the lid off an artificial toddy racket, a few moons ago. He revealed that the illicit brew made from toxic materials including some chemicals in discarded batteries, and urea, among other things, was used for producing ‘coconut’ vinegar and arrack. He raised the issue in Parliament, and the government undertook to probe it. An immediate crackdown should have been ordered on the illicit breweries, which are operating openly, but nothing of the sort happened, making one wonder if some ruling party backers were involved in the racket. The demand for vinegar also increases during the traditional New Year season. Curiously, Pathirana’s revelation has not led to any public outcry as such!

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) is said to be conducting inspections and obtaining coconut oil samples countrywide to see if they are contaminated. Such action is welcome, but the CAA should explain why the owners of the companies that imported the stocks of harmful oil have not been arrested. It gets tough with only ordinary traders involved in cheating the public. Let it be urged to test samples of vinegar as well and check whether the public is ingesting harmful chemicals.

The country is awash with all sorts of substandard edible oils, a ruling party politician has admitted. If so, what prevents the government from taking action to ban such oil imports immediately, the way it banned the turmeric imports, albeit for a different reason. However, according to experts, aflatoxin contamination of coconut oil is not uncommon in this country due to the improper copra production methods that promote fungal growth; the imported oil consignment, however, is said to contain extremely high levels of the toxin. Steps must be taken to ensure that the local edible oil production is also carried out properly.