The Industrial Technology Institute said that the results of the coconut oil samples provided by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to detect the presence of the carcinogen Aflatoxin will be available today.

A senior official said that the preparation of the sample reports is currently in the final stages.

Following the detection of the carcinogen in the coconut oil, the Food Safety Unit of the Ministry of Health recommended that the 13 containers containing the stocks of coconut oil be re-exported.

The CAA also took steps to seal the warehouses of the three companies that imported the coconut oil, to guarantee that the stocks of oil will not be released to the market.

The Sri Lanka Standards Institute also submitted a report to the Customs Department, noting that the samples taken from the imported stocks of coconut oil contain the carcinogen aflatoxin.

To check whether any stock of the coconut oil was released to the market, the CAA has launched a 24-hour operation across the country to take random samples from stores. Accordingly, the results of the samples are planned to be released today (01).

Meanwhile, the two bowsers containing 55,000 litres of imported unrefined coconut oil found by the police on 29 March at an oil mill near Dankotuwa were handed over to the Customs Department for further investigations.

Accordingly, the coconut oil samples obtained from the two bowsers are due to be handed over to the Government Analyst and the Sri Lanka Standards Institute today.