Lidl bans carcinogenic food packaging; Jumbo follows suit

Supermarket chains Lidl and Jumbo are both taking steps against carcinogenic mineral oils in food packaging. Jumbo added extra requirements to its purchasing conditions when it comes to packaging. And Lidl is imposing even stricter limits banning these mineral oils in packaging, the first supermarket in the Netherlands to do so, watchdog Foodwatch announced on Wednesday. This involves mineral oils MOAH and MOSH, which could cause cancer and organ damage. These oils usually end up in packaging from old printing ink from recycled cardboard packaging. Research by the food watchdog found that much of the packaging of foods that form a large part of Dutch daily diets are contaminated with these oils, including rice, pasta, cereal and sprinkles. Foodwatch tested a total of 120 everyday food products for these oils and found that nearly half of them contained MOAH and 92 percent were contaminated with MOSH. Aldi and Albert Heijn stated that they are not changing their policy regarding these mineral oils for the time being, Omroep Brabant reports. Foodwatch spokesperson Sjoerd van de Wouw called it "very disappointing".