Public not warned of tainted oil
0 
Local health authorities have admitted waiting five months before announcing that secret recalls had been ordered for a brand of camellia oil that had been found to contain excessive carcinogens.
The oil was manufactured by Jinhao, a well-known edible oil maker based in Central China's Hunan province.
An official with the provincial bureau of quality and technical supervision confirmed, on the condition of anonymity, that in March, the bureau found excessive amounts of a harmful element known as benzoapyrene in a sample of Jinhao camellia oil.
Benzoapyrene is highly carcinogenic and will accumulate within the human body, causing long-term health problems, according to health experts.
The official also said that the high levels of benzoapyrene resulted from the processing of the oil. He added that the company has resolved the issue by updating its equipment.
The Beijing News quoted local quality supervision officials as saying on Thursday that they did not release the information in order to "maintain social stability."
The Hunan Jinhao Camellia Oil Co Ltd published an apology letter on its website on Wednesday evening to inform the consumers of the substandard products.
"Nine batches of camellia oil produced from December last year to this March have been found to contain excessive benzoapyrene," the letter stated.The unsafe products totaled 42 tons. Some 22 tons have been seized by the local quality supervision authorities and 11 tons have been recalled, according to the letter.
Authorities did not say what happened to the other nine tons.
The contact number listed at the end of the letter remained busy throughout the day Thursday, so further comment was not available.
The letter noted the company had conducted two recalls separately in late March and April.
The company admitted in the Wednesday letter that it "didn't inform the public about the substandard products in time and didn't inform people thoroughly about the recall process."
Go to Forum >>0 Comments