Students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have exposed how traders use milipedes to produce palm oil in Ghana. It’s learnt that the students conducted a research on palm oil production only to make the discovery.
This comes only two months after the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) discovered that traders were using Sudan IV, a cancer-causing agent, in the production of palm oil in Ghana.
According to citifmonline, the students conducted a research and discovered that some traders soak millipedes in palm oil during production to change its colour and taste.
The FDA declared palm oil safe for consumption in December last year advising consumers to only patronize palm oil from sellers with accredited badges from the Authority. However, with this discovery, more in-depth investigations on the production of palm oil is required.
The FDA has already stated that they will apprehend food vendors who continue to adulterate food items on the market.
John Odame Darkwa, the Deputy Chief Executive of the FDA, declared that the agency will ensure it monitors palm oil vendors and place more focus on the supply end of the palm oil trade.
“The essential thing is to make sure you tackle the supply end and the supply end are the producers,” he said.
Even though millipedes are not known to be poisonous, they give off fluids known as
hydrochloric acid that can chemically burn the skin and cause long-term skin discoloration.
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