Foodwatch Media-effective recall for Rewe Bio-Weichweizengrieß due to mineral oil

Mineral oils in organic soft wheat semolina
The consumer organization foodwatch warns against the consumption of organic soft wheat semolina by Rewe. Residues of aromatic mineral oils have been detected in the in-house trademark. Such substances are considered by the Food Safety Authority EFSA to be potentially carcinogenic. In addition, such mineral oils are said to change our genetic material. Foodwatch strongly recommends already purchased semolina packs Not to consume and exchange immediately in their Rewe branches.

Aromatic mineral oils are considered according to the consensus of authorities and the Association of the German food industry BLL as "unwanted entries". Normally, not even the smallest traces of these substances should be detectable in our food. The organic soft wheat semolina of the company Rewe is therefore not marketable. The consumer organization proposes to take the product out of the sale urgently. Since semolina was consumed particularly frequently by children, it was particularly important to quickly remove such products, foodwatch said in a statement.

Foodwatch starts its own callback. Image: Foodwatch

Retailer Rewe classifies organic soft wheat semolina as harmless
If the retailer Rewe does not respond immediately and pull the product out of circulation, the authorities would have to be turned on. So far, Rewe has not been active and the affected product is still available on the shelves. Rewe organic soft wheat semolina is fully marketable and harmless to health. The NGO operates here from the point of view of Rewe targeted consumer deception, the retailer said in a statement. Foodwatch responded and published a callback itself.

Rewe does not respond and leaves product on sale
At the end of October 2015, foodwatch had carried out a comprehensive mineral oil test. In this study, 120 foods from Germany, France and the Netherlands were tested. Subsequently, the results of the investigations were published. During the investigations it was possible to detect aromatic mineral oils in a batch of Rewe-Bio-Weichweizengrieß 'with a best before date of 30.4.2016. When the retailer did not respond to the findings, foodwatch contacted Rewe in writing. The consumer organization explicitly pointed to the substances found in the investigation. Rewe did not react again. There was neither an answer nor an urgently needed recall. Luckily, there are also examples of how a company can react to such an investigation. The Italian manufacturer Curti had recently withdrawn its sold at Kaufland Curtiriso long grain brown rice from the sale. In the product also aromatic mineral oils were found. The consumer organization called on companies to launch a public product recall. Kaufland and Curti finally responded to the request. The recall was then distributed via the portal Lebensmittelwarnung.de, which is operated by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL).

Recycled paper packaging often contains mineral oils and other substances
Mineral oil residues often get into our food via unsuitable packaging materials. However, contamination can also be caused by faulty production processes. Thus one can assume that not only this single batch is affected by the problem, explained foodwatch. Generally, packaging made of recycled paper poses a great risk. Such types of packaging often contain mineral oils. Many also contain other toxic substances such as plasticizers and solvents.