Finland refutes PAH margarine findings

Levels of the carcinogenic PAH compounds in margarines are within recommended limits, said Finland's national food agency this week, challenging earlier findings from a Swedish consumer organisation.

The Swedish group announced in May that it had found Becel pro.activ margarine to contain PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) levels exceeding the 5 micrograms per kilo permitted for olive oils in Sweden. Maker of the cholesterol-lowering product Unilever Bestfoods disputed the findings, submitting its own test results to food agencies.

The Finnish food agency says it has received results from the MTT Agrifood Research Finland for 10 margarines which show total PAH levels to be "clearly lower than the limit of 5 micrograms per kilo when the levels for the eight PAH compounds were added together"​. Total PAH levels ranged from 0.3 to 1.6 micrograms per kilo. The average was 0.7 micrograms per kilo. The agency concluded that the ten margarine samples can be considered safe.

The tested margarines also had low levels of benzo(a)pyrene (the most toxic and carcinogenic PAH), ranging from 0 to 0.2 micrograms per kilo, said the agency. The average was 0.1 micrograms per kilo. In Finland a limit of 2 micrograms per kilo has been set for benzo(a)pyrene. Steps must be taken if this limit is exceeded. In Sweden the same limit has been set for benzo(a)pyrene in olive oil, in addition to which a limit of 5 micrograms per kilo has been set for total PAH in olive oil including eight compounds, one of which is benzo(a)pyrene.

PAH values in Finland and Sweden are comparable if the same PAH compounds are included in tests. The normal procedure in Finland is to calculate total PAH on the basis of 19 compounds, however. The total PAH level in this case rises somewhat and ranges from 2.8 to 9.6 micrograms per kilo, said the agency.