Chlorinated Paraffins In Vitamin E Supplements From Palm Oil

[Shai Hulud]

Recently there was an article on the page of a German website (a state-owned radio station with focus on culture, politics, science, etc.).
Chemists who specialize in detection of chlorinated paraffins ordered 14 Vitamin E products off the internet. In 8 off them he found only traces of chlorinated paraffins, but 6 of them contained 30-200 µg per gram of fat.
All of the 6 had one thing in common: They were made from palm oil.
They suspect the paraffins are used as a lubricant in the (palm) oil presses. In the oil, they would be in small amounts, but while the Vit E gets concentrated, the clorinated paraffins get, too.
Some even contained short-chain CPs, which are (at least in Germany) already banned.
There is also a comparison: Intake of a bottle of the highly contaminated products will mean a higher intake of CPs than a person will consume of PCB in a lifetime (though I don't know how these can be compared...) ;
Thought I'd leave this here as a warning - apparently CPs are hard to detect, so I might just be they are just not tested for.

 

[Shai Hulud]

Addition: I tried to get the names of the testes product form the author, but didn't get a reply. I also contacted Jarrow about their TocoSorb product, but they also never answered.

 

[olive]

Thanks for the heads up

I don’t take a vitamin e supplement but I do often cook with palm oil

 

[Shai Hulud]

Answer from Jarrow:

• Thanks for your inquiry. Sorry, we only send technical documentation to our customers (wholesale accounts). However, I can tell you our supplier tests for chlorinated paraffins, and such contaminants are not present.

 

[Shai Hulud]

"Complete Vitamin E" (Vitality Nutritionals) seems to be free of CPs. They sent me a analysis they had done. I can forward it, of anyone's interested.

 

[Shai Hulud]

Thanks for the heads up

I don’t take a vitamin e supplement but I do often cook with palm oil

I think that's usually save, as any CPs in there have not been concentrated.

 

[lampofred]

Answer from Jarrow:

• Thanks for your inquiry. Sorry, we only send technical documentation to our customers (wholesale accounts). However, I can tell you our supplier tests for chlorinated paraffins, and such contaminants are not present.

nvm.