Food Law News - UK - 2002


FSA News Item, 16 May 2002

LABELLING - Corn oil tests true

A Food Standards Agency survey of corn oil has found that all those tested were labelled accurately and were not adulterated with cheaper oils.

The survey represents progress on similar work carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in 1995. The MAFF survey found that 35% of corn oil samples contained at least 3% of an oil not included on the label. These were usually soya oil or rapeseed oil which are cheaper than corn oil.

In the latest FSA survey, researchers checked 61 samples from shops and wholesale suppliers in nine regions across the UK. They found that all the corn oil (sometimes called maize oil) tested met international standards.

The new work was carried out as part of the Working Party on Food Authenticity programme, which gathers information about food labelling in the UK.

The survey report concludes: 'The results of the survey suggest that corn oil now sold in the UK is named correctly on the label. This represents a significant improvement on the situation in 1995 and suggests that suppliers have reviewed their processing procedures and implemented more rigorous quality control.'

The report, "Food Authenticity Survey - Corn (Maize) Oil (Number 24/02)" can be seen at:
http://www.food.gov.uk/science/surveillance/fsis-2002/24maize


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