Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: Could you find out whether the ban in Australia regarding soy and oyster sauce brands, such as Lee Kum Kee, has extended to the United States or Hawaii? My understanding is that there were excessive amounts of chloropropanol found which may potentially cause cancer. I am concerned because so many people in Hawaii use these sauces. Ban on soy, oyster
sauce doesn’t
extend to HawaiiAnswer: Some countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, have banned certain types of these sauces because of concern over potential carcinogens, said Maurice Tamura, chief of the state Food and Drug Branch.
However, Tamura said the state takes its lead from the federal Food and Drug Administration, which has not issued even an advisory on the sauces.
There is no ban or advisory in the United States because the FDA does not have "any strong concern" regarding the safety of consuming those products, an FDA spokeswoman in San Francisco said.
This issue has been of concern in the United Kingdom and Canada for at least two years, and the FDA is "well aware of what the U.K. has found," she said. The problem is that there are different levels of acceptability for the potentially cancer-causing chemical known as 3-MCPD (part of the chloropropanol group) set by the European Union and Canada, and there is no official level set by the FDA.
The spokeswoman also noted that "testing has been quite erratic," even with the same product, and there is "not a lot of consistency in the findings." The FDA is working "to get the industry to set some standards" regarding the chemical.
Until then the advice from the FDA is, with everything, "to eat in moderation."
Tamura also pointed out that "the risk is small. People would need to consume the (sauce) product virtually every day for a very long time before they MAY get any type of reaction or effect."
Lee Kum Kee, meanwhile, has issued a statement saying the Hong Kong government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has indicated that all its products in Hong Kong comply with established food standards.
"This is a clear vindication of all Lee Kum Kee products and confirms what we have been saying: that Lee Kum Kee has taken the initiative to put in place a number of procedures to meet or exceed compliance for all of our products and that we have been successful in our efforts to protect consumer safety," Eddy Lee, Lee Kum Kee chairman, told reporters last week in Hong Kong.
Tamura provided us with a June 20 press release issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the United Kingdom.
The release said: "The Food Standards Agency has advised consumers to avoid certain soy (and oyster) sauce products following retail survey which found high levels of potentially cancer-causing chemicals in nearly a quarter of samples. The majority of samples taken had none of these contaminants whatsoever, and none of the products sampled from major retail chains posed any safety concerns.
Of the 100 samples, 22 gave cause for concern."
It went on to say that the sauces can be produced without the chemical, "and we expect swift action from the industry to ensure that the planned EU legal limits are met."
Lee Kum Kee, however, maintained "the FSA samples did not reflect the true situation of its products in the marketplace, nor did the study recognize the accomplishments of Lee Kum Kee as a responsible global food manufacturer."
For more details and the names of the products listed by the FSA, check the FSA web site at www.foodstandards.gov.uk, or call the state Food and Drug Branch, 586-4725.
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
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Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
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