How healthy is your cereal box?

A study last month by Swiss scientists found that recycled cardboard  used in packaging for foods such as cereal, pasta and rice, contains 10 to 100 times more mineral oil than WHO’s acceptable limit.

Dr Koni Grob, of the Food Safety Laboratory in Zurich, said that according to toxicologists, high concentrations of mineral oils are damaging to health, causing chronic inflammation of the internal organs as well as cancer.

Food manufacturers mainly use recycled cardboard made from newspaper as it is less expensive than virgin board from freshy harvested trees. However, mineral oils penetrate the inner bags that help to protect the food, and the longer the products are on the shelf, the worse the contamination of the food, reaching 100 times the agreed limit or more.

Mineral oils in newspaper print get absorbed into the cardboard during the recycling process. Dr Grob said that of 119 products tested only 30 were free of mineral oil toxins.

In the UK, Jordans have already stopped using recycled cardboard and other manufacturers are looking at ways of reducing levels of mineral oil.

While the German government has told food and packaging companies to take immediate action to reduce mineral oils, the UK is looking at levels of mineral oils in packaging rather than the contamination of the food.

Terrence Collis blogged on Food Standard Agency website, claiming that the available information from the Swiss research was insufficient .

“Although current evidence doesn’t conclude there is a problem, we are taking this issue very seriously and we are busy gathering more data, which give us a better view of whether any further action needs to be taken to protect consumers,”he said.

Mineral oil is the by product of petroleum distillation. A more refined version is used in the preparation of skin care, often the main ingredient in those targeted at children . It acts as a barrier between skin and air.  

However, there are concerns that mineral oil is harmful to the skin. It stops the skin from breathing and sweating, while clogging the pores and preventing the absorption of vitamin D. Its carcinogenic link, however, small, also makes it an undesirable ingredient. Mineral oil, being a cheap, throw away product from the petroleum industry, is an enticing ingredient for manufacturers. Without strong opposition from consumers or the government, it is unlikely that industries using mineral oil would look for alternatives.

Natural Skin Care