ANN/THE NATION – In response to growing concerns over the potential contamination of instant noodles, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has issued a directive urging importers to meticulously examine their products for traces of ethylene oxide residue.
Yongyos Thammawut, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, revealed on Tuesday that the ministry’s Medical Sciences Department has successfully developed a detection technique for identifying ethylene oxide in food items.
Emphasising the importance of vigilance, he called for random inspections of imported noodles.
The precautionary measure comes in the wake of recent revelations in the European Union, where ethylene oxide was discovered in the vanilla flavouring of over 10 recipes belonging to a popular ice cream brand.
Citing the 1992 Hazardous Substance Act, Yongyos underscored that ethylene oxide is classified as a hazardous substance, heightening the urgency of thorough product checks.
This chemical has no odour and was initially used to sanitise medical equipment that cannot withstand extreme heat, he added.
Yongyos said the substance was found to cause cancer by mutating genes and can also affect the reproductive system.
Consuming ethylene dioxide can also irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory system, as well as the central nervous system.
He said the EU has banned the use of ethylene oxide for sanitisation, but some countries still allow its use.
He said Thailand would mark any food with ethylene contamination as substandard food in line with the 1979 Food Standard Act.
Yongyos said the Medical Sciences Department has developed a technique for detecting ethylene oxide contamination, called Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). This technique is a standard method used by the European Union to check for pesticides.
Yongyos said importers of instant noodles can have their imported noodles undergo random tests at THB5,000 per sample.
