AFLATOXIN IN IMPORTED COCONUT OIL

A SCIENTIFIC VIEW

BY Emeritus Professor Upali Samarajeewa
smrjee@gmail.com]

The public are bombarded with half truths on presence and release of imported aflatoxin-contaminated coconut oil to the market. When improperly dried copra is stored for many days a mold of yellow colour, which becomes moss green later, appears on the surface of the kernels, releasing aflatoxins deep into the coconut kernels. Once released into the kernel, the toxin remains unchanged till the kernel disintegrates. On expulsion of oil from such copra, 80% of the aflatoxin separates into the coconut oil. Aflatoxins were first detected in groundnuts in 1961, when turkey poults, fed with ground nuts, died in thousands, compelling the British to celebrate Christmas without the traditional roasted turkey on the dining table. The Scientist and his Assistant, who got exposed during discovery of the aflatoxins are reported to have died of colon cancer a few years later. In 1970, a consignment of copra from the Philippines was rejected by the USA sensitizing the Coconut Authorities in Sri Lanka too.

The issue today is that the consignments of coconut oil, imported from two or more countries by several importers, is supposed to be highly contaminated with aflatoxins. Aflatoxin can cause liver cancers in humans on long exposure through foods. The Sri Lankan society is still not sure whether a part of the consignment, under discussion, got released to the market, as the public are made to believe half-truths. The only solution to the problem lies in getting the market coconut oil tested for presence of aflatoxins. It may be worth testing a few ‘refined’ samples of oils, bottled, and marketed under the brand names of importers under scrutiny. When humans suffer from a serious sickness, they do not go to the usual family doctor, but the specialist on the particular disease. In Sri Lanka, there is only one laboratory accredited for testing aflatoxins in vegetable oils, which has been maintaining competency through continuous testing, surveillance, and research. This reliable testing capacity is with the Food Safety and Quality Assurance Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at Peradeniya University. Our arguments and interpretations on various test reports from exporting countries, or from unaccredited laboratories in other Sri Lankan institutions, carry no sense in the light of this background. Some public media are excellent in fueling the flames with no scientific understanding. Institutions possess the expertise on protecting their own good names. Politicians listen to both sides and argue smartly in the august house with little scientific understanding. Scientific views are not obtained from the right persons or right places. The carnival continues. Public are not sure whether to celebrate the New Year with “kewum” or without.

When the Philippines copra consignments were rejected by the USA, in 1970, the Coconut Authority, in Sri Lanka, got sensitized immediately and arranged a three-year research assignment in the Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya to examine the probable aflatoxin contaminations in Sri Lankan copra, coconut oil and poonac. The person employed under the assignment developed a test method for aflatoxins in coconut products, did a one-year survey visiting and collecting samples from each and every coconut oil mill in the country in three rounds examining copra, oil and poonac. The project understood the aflatoxin levels in the coconut products in Sri Lanka and the origins of contaminations. There were many other related academic research activities to strengthen the findings, such as toxic effects of aflatoxins on experimental and farm animals and effects of smoke drying of copra on aflatoxin accumulation. The project also clearly identified the poor manufacturing practices leading to the contamination problem and working out mechanisms to remove aflatoxins in coconut kernel products industrially. All the research were well recognized, internationally, through publications and patents. Good manufacturing practices were recommended to the industry. This enriched the Coconut Authority with new scientific information of the ground situation, remedial measures, and actions to be taken, arising from their investment for scientific research on aflatoxin related risks and appropriate levels of controls. The Coconut Authority continued to use this information for years and conducted regular training programmes, for the copra producers and oil millers regularly at grassroot level. It had the desired effects of reducing the concentrations of aflatoxins in coconut oil through commitment of an increased number of industrialists, to be within regulatory levels. More recent introduction of branding and bottling of coconut oils, was a mechanism to trace the origins of possible aflatoxin problems in the long run. Against this situation, releasing imported coconut oil in bulk with no mechanism to establish the origin or identity boils down to opening the gates exposing consumers to the invisible risk of aflatoxins, which would be felt in years to come.

Unlike other agricultural commodities, such as groundnuts and maize that gets contaminated with aflatoxins, consumers get exposed to higher and continuous health risks through coconut oil on a daily basis. Aflatoxin producing mold is visible in groundnuts and maize providing the choice for consumers to discard contaminated kernels. Aflatoxins in coconut oil is hidden, requires expensive sophisticated testing and could expose the consumers unaware of the risks.

Copra is produced in Sri Lanka using a scientifically designed kiln with natural mechanisms for uniform heating, removing the moisture with smoke, depositing a thin layer of antimicrobials on kernel surfaces, and finally reducing the moisture to safe levels of 8%. The kiln is described in global literature as “Ceylon Copra Kiln” – Credit to the research of Coconut Research Institute. The same cannot said of the copra production and the kilns used in the countries from which we have imported coconut oil recently. Naturally, a potential disaster was in the pipeline on importing coconut oil from such countries. It has exploded now.

The cure lies in chemically refining the contaminated coconut oil, which is already in our territories. Alkali used in chemical refining of edible oils converts the aflatoxin molecules to sodium derivatives, which are water soluble and washed away during the centrifugation process. There are no other short cuts to get rid of aflatoxins in coconut oil or in any other food. Any industrial process can possess weak points due to the way it is practiced. The final clearance on safety should be based on testing the chemically refined coconut oil for absence of aflatoxins. Sri Lankan scientists who have spent years of research and lived with the subject stand above everybody in this subject globally. They possess the knowledge and the knowhow. Unscientific advises from inadequately informed persons would not help in solving this national food safety problem. Once the imported crude coconut oil is refined and cleared as “free of aflatoxins”, the stocks could be exported recovering the dollars Sri Lanka has spent to import crude oils and even make profits. Let the businesses use science to make money for the country.

Unfortunately, Sri Lankan science has become an occult science with offering ‘Sudharshani paniya’ of unknown origin, Dhammilka peniya from kali-science, ‘Ravana paniya’ of “Dandumonara’ origin and arsenic-science of Natha Deviyo. The proponents have achieved their objectives at the expense of “literate” Sri Lankans. Let us not allow the aflatoxin issue of imported coconut oil to follow the same pathway, sidetracking the scientific knowledge available to the country.

The author has worked through this whole scientific process, which is internationally recognized. Sri Lanka has understood the problem. It knows the solutions. Who would come out with no vested interests aiming benefits for the common man?