CAP: Ban use of ethylene oxide as fumigants by the food industry

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the Health Ministry to ban the use of ethylene oxide as fumigants by the food industry.

The call came after the finding by the Taipei Health Department that two instant noodle products made by Southeast Asian brands have been found to contain ethylene oxide, a cancer-inducing substance.

"We should test processed food and food ingredients for the presence of ethylene oxide, especially those coming from countries that are still using it," CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader (above) said today.

"This is not the first time ethylene oxide has been found in food products.

"In October of last year, the Ministry of Health declared that traces of ethylene oxide had been discovered in certain flavours of the Indonesian product, Mi Sedaap," he said.

Mohideen also highlighted that the Ministry of Health recalled the vanilla-flavoured ice cream products of Häagen-Dazs in August 2022, after discovering they were tainted with ethylene oxide.

Taiwan's Health Department said it found that a batch of Ah Lai White Curry Noodles from Malaysia and a batch of Indomie: Special Chicken Flavour noodles from Indonesia both contained ethylene oxide.

"The recurring reports on unsafe Malaysian food products by overseas authorities clearly show that our food safety monitoring is inadequate," Mohideen said.

Ethylene oxide has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, being associated with lymphoma and leukaemia.

In spite of its toxicity, some countries such as Canada, the United States and India still allow it as a fumigant in applications relating to food, including freight containers and in warehouses.  

"As such, cross-contamination of products by ethylene oxide is common, especially during storage and transportation," Mohideen added. - Mkini