Mali: Cooking oil used by most Malians found to be toxic (United Nations’ Integrated Regional Information Networks)
Date Posted: February 11th, 2008
The cooking oil used by most Malians has been found to contain a toxic substance that can cause serious health problems in both men and women.
Most of the cooking oil used in Mali is derived from cotton plants. These plants naturally produce a chemical called gossypol that protects against insect damage. In order for cottonseed oil to be safe for human consumption, the gossypol must be removed during the refining process.
However, a recent government survey concluded that most oil producers do not have the equipment needed to remove gossypol. As a result, more than 100 cottonseed oil factories have been ordered to close.
Doctors in Mali explain that gossypol can cause numerous health problems. These include permanent sterility in men and irregular menstruation and miscarriages in women. Gossypol has also been linked to heart failure and cancer.
Local cottonseed producers are the primary source of oil for most Malians. Seydou Samaké lives in the capital city of Bamako. Like most people, he frequently cooked with cottonseed oil that he now knows is toxic. He is angry that the government did not do enough to regulate cooking oil refineries and protect public health.
Consumers’ action groups are now calling on the government to do more to ensure the safety of cottonseed oil. They say oil products should be labeled so that consumers know their origin. They also want the government to enact a public education campaign to inform people of the risks of unrefined cottonseed oil.
Meanwhile, many small-scale oil producers say they cannot afford the refining equipment that removes gossypol. Seydou Traoré is an oil producer in Fana, a major cotton-producing region. He says that he will sell his factory because he cannot afford to meet the safety requirements.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Greg Modestus of ARDA also had these insights to share with the FRW community:
In the Mali situation, Government should assist the small scale cotton seed oil farmer with credit facilities so that they can buy the required equipment for refining the oil before it is sent to the market for consumption. The gossypol diseases are dangerous to man, and it can cause the consumers their dear lives. I will suggest that the Malian Government should take the statistics numbers of the producers and then merge them together or tell them to merge, so that it will be easy and cheap for the Government to finance them, if the money required to finance them individually is so much. This is an initiative the Nigeria Government is applying in most sectors in the copuntry in order to keep them moving and become more viable to the people and the economy rather than having them close down.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The government of Mali should take Bold and Urgent steps in Addressing the situation by quickly stopping further production of local cotton seed oil, while subsidizing imports of other sources of cooking oil such as sunflower oil, vegetable oil Etc. within a specific time frame.
Although this will have economic effects in the short term, but the long term benefits will surpass the short term losses.
The situation can be further addressed by establishing a technical production standard for manufacturers, which will take into consideration the elimination of such toxic compounds, with adequate technical assistance, regulation, supports and working environment that is sustainable and well informed.