• Importers cry foul over testing procedure 

• LSI stands by outcome of tests on oil imports  

  Despite the government decision last week to re-export the controversial contaminated coconut oil to Malaysia, a number of questions still remain unanswered, as the importers are now denying the allegations levelled against them by the authorities, who claimed that those consignments contained higher than the accepted percentage of aflatoxin, a cancerous toxic substance. The value of the coconut oil stocks of 105 MT imported to the country is estimated at around Rs. 377 million and it is now queued for re-exportation which is scheduled on 13 April. The importers claim that under the general process, the authorities check the lab reports prior to loading and unloading the stocks at the port and therefore, there was no possibility of loading oil stocks which are not suitable for human consumption. The coconut oil consignments which were alleged to be contaminated with higher than permitted levels of aflatoxins were allegedly imported by Ali Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd., Edirisinghe Edible Oil (Pvt.) Ltd., and Katana Refineries (Pvt.) Ltd.   Allegations denied    However, the issue was first highlighted by the All-Ceylon Traditional Coconut Oil Manufacturers Association during a media conference held in Dambulla last month.   They alleged that 13 containers of imported coconut oil, which the Health Ministry’s Food Safety Unit declared unfit for human consumption, were being released to the market.  The issue then gained much publicity in both electronic and print media and remained under the spotlight during the past few weeks.   Following the rumours that the contaminated coconut oil stocks have entered the market, the sale of coconut oil dropped drastically until the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) assured that no such contaminated coconut oil had entered the local market.  Following the allegations, the CAA conducted random tests around the country to see whether the contaminated oil had entered the market. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Standard Institute (SLSI), facing allegations of releasing the contaminated consignments, conducted standard tests of the samples of the imported coconut oil.  The tests conducted by the SLSI verified that the samples collected from three coconut oil importing companies had failed two quality tests and therefore, Customs Director General Major General (Retd.) Vijitha Ravipriya ordered the relevant companies, namely Ali Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd., Edirisinghe Edible Oils (Pvt.) Ltd., and Katana Refineries (Pvt.) Ltd. to re-export 1.8 million kg of substandard coconut oil.  The named companies are well established in the coconut oil business for a considerable period now.  However, speaking to The Sunday Morning, Edirisinghe Edible Oils (Pvt.) Ltd. Manager K.G. Ravindra stressed that there was no truth in the allegation that the stocks imported by them had been contaminated with aflatoxin.  “The tests were conducted for unrefined coconut crude oil. We continuously asked the authorities to check the quality of the samples released to the market following the refining process, but they denied it,” he stressed.  “We all eat this oil refined in our refineries. We give it to our children too. If it is below the quality, we won’t do so. We are in the business for more than two decades and have never faced such allegations before,” Ravindra said, adding that the consignments contained the approved percentage of aflatoxins. He also claimed that during the refining process, those unhealthy toxins are removed and the refined coconut oil is 100% healthy for human consumption.  “Some media institutions intentionally pointed fingers at us without even knowing the truth. Some have even said that we have imported used coconut oil, which is not even possible to find in any other country,” Ravindra stressed.  When asked about the losses they faced, he said: “We lost the trusted customer base which is the most important part of a business. We took years to build our customer base and the loss incurred by the company cannot even be measured.”  Similarly, Ali Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd. Managing Director Naseem Azad Ali also denied the allegations levelled against them, claiming that the coconut oil imported by them does not contain any carcinogens or chemicals that are harmful to the human body.  “If anyone proves that our coconut oil contains the carcinogen aflatoxin, they can take any legal action against us,” he told the media recently.  “We imported ‘unrefined coconut oil’. It can contain all four types of aphrodisiacs, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fatty acids, citric acids, water, and various iron particles. This is what we brought years ago. Also, the Government has given us permission to import unrefined coconut oil.”    SLSI stands by decision    Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) Director General Dr. Siddhika Senaratne revealed that aflatoxin carcinogens found in the test samples were three times more than the set standard of 10 micrograms per kg.  She noted: “The recent trend of importing unrefined coconut oil was after taxes were revised in September 2020 so that the palm oil tax remains higher than the coconut oil tax. Mixing palm oil with coconut oil is another form of adulteration and the adjustment of the Special Commodity Levies was meant to discourage that practice.” Accordingly, the SLSI started testing for aflatoxins barely two months ago.  According to her, the Customs Ordinance does not have provisions to impose a jail sentence for an offender of this nature. It only provides for a heavy fine, but those who can afford it tend to repeat the same offence again and again.    No permission for mixing    However, Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana told The Sunday Morning that as per the internationally recognised practices, when such a consignment, which does not match with the quality of the goods imported, is received by a country, the consignment should be re-exported. Therefore, actions would be taken to re-export the consignment.  Minister Dr. Gunawardana has also instructed the CAA to issue a new gazette notification regarding the blending of oils.  The new gazette will be issued prohibiting the mixing of any edible oils with imported coconut oil.   The Minister said in a statement that he had instructed to cancel the gazette notification issued in 2016 allowing the blending of other oils with imported coconut oil.    Unanswered    As the issue got swept under the carpet following the instructions given to re-export the controversial coconut oil stocks, The Sunday Morning learnt that the quality issue of the coconut oil in the local market was not new. In 2018, the CAA stated that 75% of the coconut oil used for cooking in Sri Lanka was unsuitable for human consumption.  This was revealed through multiple tests that had been carried out using 200 samples of coconut oil available in the market since 2016, as most samples were mixed with other oily substances.  Furthermore, research conducted on the “Occurrence of aflatoxins in edible vegetable oils in Sri Lanka” in 2019, highlighted that out of the 32 coconut oil samples, 12 (37.5%), which included five brands and seven unbranded products, had total aflatoxin contamination and aflatoxin B1 contamination in the ranges of 2.25–72.70 μg/kg and 1.76–60.92 μg/kg, respectively. Out of these 12 samples, 10 and 11 samples exceeded the European Union's maximum permissible levels applicable for total aflatoxins (4 μg/kg) and aflatoxin B1 (2 μg/kg), respectively. All positive coconut oil samples were regular coconut oils, which had been extracted from copra (dried coconut kernel).  High levels of aflatoxin contamination in coconut oil may have resulted from improper practices during the copra production that facilitate toxigenic fungal growth on copra, the research revealed.  But questions remain as to what actions the CAA has taken to protect the consumers from these types of unhealthy food items and whether we have enough consumer protection laws within the country to take legal action against those who commit such offences.