Despite substantial differences depending on the oil types, the fats and oils industry has a good understanding of possible MOSH and MOAH access points in the supply chains.

Companies owning the full production process, from seeds/fruits till refined oils, can apply the best control to reduce MM to very low levels. We have a successful example where we made a significant improvement by using an innovative internally generated solution.

We believe the opportunities for further mitigation stand in the oils distribution network where multiple parties have an effect on a small piece of the full process. When a contamination occurs in the seed growth, harvesting and handling or while extracting crude oils, then only a limited amount of MOSH and MOAH can be removed by the refining process. What would be propaedeutic for additional advancements is the recognition that the current approved analytical method does not allow always a proper qualification and quantification of these contaminants and often, for crude tropical oils, the limit of quantification are higher than what mentioned in the SCoPAFF statement.

Due to the current analytics it is very complex or almost impossible to purchase tropical crude oils being sure to measure only MOAH, moreover even if MOAH are initially absent, or below 2 mg/kg, after refining the LOQ can increase and generate additional uncertainties. We suggest that the way forward is a further advancement in the analytics and the use of GCxGC technology could be the correct approach to fully and precisely qualify and quantify these contaminants.