Local health authorities Tuesday admitted waiting for five months before announcing that secret recalls had been ordered for camellia oil by Jinhao, a well-known edible oil maker based in central China's Hunan Province, after the oil had been found to have contained excessive carcinogens.
An official with the provincial bureau of quality and technical supervision confirmed, on the condition of anonymity, that in March the bureau found excessive amounts of harmful elements, known as benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), in a sample of Jinhao camellia oil.
Benzo(a)pyrene is highly carcinogenic and will accumulate within human body, causing long-term health problems, according to health experts.
The official also said that the high level of benzo(a)pyrene remnant was resultant from the processing of the oil, which had been resolved by updating equipment.
But the official did not explain why the bureau only demanded Jinhao call back the oil, but did not publicize the result of the testing in March.
The Century Weekly, a Chinese magazine, reported Monday that Jinhao twice recalled the problematic oil without informing consumers or the media.
The benzo(a)pyrene level in the recalled oil, according to the report, was 60 micrograms per kg, five times higher than the national limits.
Jinhao, however, refused to publicly release information about the recalled batch or the quantity of products that had been recalled, the magazine said.
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