27/09/2008 (The Nation), Karachi - The government has yet to specify the standard of the disputed RBD palm oil as chemical experts have once again suspected it authenticity of its samples collected from IFFCO Refinery from where it was seized and dumped nine years ago.

The experts also suspected that 1,000 metric tons of RBD palm oil, has been replaced with new one, because there are no considerable chemical and biochemical changes in the oil when it was dumped in 1998 at the said place.

Following the directives of the apex courts, the chemical experts from HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University, PCSIR Laboratory and CDGK Food Laboratory on Saturday collected the oil samples from IFFCO Refinery in the presence of journalists, customs officials, Special Health Secretary Dr Abdul Majid and Deputy Health Secretary Dr Jamal Sheikh to conduct further chemical analysis. Prof Dr Khalid M Khan and Dr Shakil Ahmed of the HEJ institute, Dr Jawwad Sheikh CDGK Food Laboratory, Kishwar Shabina and Waheed Bhatti, Tahira Khatoon and Rubina Saleem from PCSIR Laboratory were also present on the occasion.

Talking to newsmen, the experts said that it was difficult to understand scientifically that 9-year old dumped oil could not change chemically and bio-chemically after long time. They astonished over the fact that melting point of the said oil was 38 degree centigrade nine years ago and the current laboratory reports showed that the oil still has the same melting point.

“It is really difficult to comprehend that the oil has low per oxide value, free fatty acid and no rancidity, which shows there is something wrong in the storage system.

Further reports will prove that whether the oil is edible or not. If in the original state, it could not be declared edible oil because it was mixed with palm stearin in large quantity”, they said.

It is worth mentioning here that palm stearin is the more solid fraction obtained by fractionation of palm oil after crystallisation at controlled temperatures.

It is thus a co-product of palm olein. It is always traded at a discount to palm oil and palm olein; making it a cost effective ingredient in several applications. The physical characteristics of palm stearin differ significantly from those of palm oil and it is available in a wider range of melting points and iodine values. Palm stearin is a very useful source of fully natural hard fatty component for products such as shortening and pastry and bakery margarines.

Quality Control Manager IFFCO, Zahid Hussain, said that IFFCO had only provided container for the said disputed oil free of cost. He said, “We at IFFCO are committed to produce and deliver safe and legal products with consistent quality, meeting customer expectations through continuous improvement of systems by selecting and monitoring objectives at relevant level within the organization.”

Special Health Secretary, Dr Abdul Majid, told the newsmen that Customs officials had seized the said RBD palm oil in 1998, which was reported contaminated. The issue is still unsolved, however, the concerned ministry is striving to settle it, he said and added that laboratory reports of new samples would be issued after Eidul Fitr.