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FDA chases market women over cancerous palm oil

The Authority has currently heightened its market surveillance after discovering oil samples picked from ten markets in the Greater Accra Region contained highly dangerous textile dye which causes cancer.

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Palm oil traders in Accra are losing out on business as the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has warned against the consumption of palm oil sold on some selected markets across the country.

This follows reports the product has been adulterated with cancer-causing substances.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), last week, confiscated large quantities of adulterated palm oil from 10 major markets in Accra and Tema.

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The products, which were being sold at the Mallam Atta, Dome, Dansoman, Agbogbloshie and Kaneshie markets, all in Accra, were said to have been adulterated with Sudan IV, an industrial dye used in the colouration of plastics and other synthetic products.

Large quantities of the oil were also seized at the Madina, Makola No 2, Tema Community One and Ashaiman markets.

However, several of the palm oil dealers have denied the reports. Several of them told Pulse.com.gh, the reports from the FDA are baseless.

Meanwhile, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (known as the IARC), on Monday, announced in the journal Lancet Oncologythat processed meats, those transformed by salting, curing, or fermentation, fall into the same category as tobacco smoke, meaning "there is convincing evidence that the agent causes cancer."

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Specifically, the researchers found evidence that eating a 50-gram portion of processed meat daily (about one hot dog) can increase a person's risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent.

The situation has created a worry for butchers and dealers in meat, as they are likely to incur a huge loss in their trade due to low patronage.

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