Ice cream, but also sugar, cookies, chocolates or even cereals, health authorities have recently issued serial alerts for ethylene oxide present in certain products. But what is this potentially carcinogenic substance beyond a certain threshold?
The list, updated periodically and stopped today as of August 8, 2021, can be consulted at a dedicated site.
TO In total, the Fraud Control has identified some 9,300 lots with traces of ethylene oxide above the authorized limit to date.
This molecule has been classified as a biocide in Europe since 2011 and its use is still prohibited for any food. It is considered a carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) agent, that is, potentially dangerous for reproduction.
The health authorities “are not aware of consumer reports of ethylene oxide poisoning in relation to the recalled products,” however, the DGCCRF recently relativized.
This new round of ethylene oxide health alerts nevertheless follows many others and raises concern from consumer advocacy associations.
“The amount of products that do not comply with the standards that have been marketed is crazy. Certainly it has been years that we consume products exposed to ethylene oxide ”, Ingrid Kragl of the NGO Foodwatch commented in particular on Wednesday August 11 to South West, who does not hesitate to speak of“ real health scandal ”.