Joseph Boahen Aidoo – CEO of COCOBOD
THE QUALITY Control Company Limited (QCC), a subsidiary of COCOBOD, has denied media reports that it bought off-the-shelf vegetable cooking oil at an overpriced cost compared to what is commonly found in local shops.
Media reports have earlier stated that the QCC bought the vegetable oil meant for the production of biodisel for insecticide dilution at an over priced rate.
However, the company in a statement issued to DGN Online by the Public Affairs Department of Ghana Cocoa Board, corrected what it described as an “erroneous claim which has been reported in the news.”
According to the statement, “the mandate of the QCC, a subsidiary of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), is to ensure that all parcels of cocoa delivered both to the local and international markets are of premium grade and free from pests.”
It said “it is in the exercise of this mandate, particularly, with respect to pest control, that the company purchased Biodiesel early this year – which is made from vegetable oil that has been transformed through chemical processes.”
The statement indicated that “infestation of cocoa by pests is controlled through disinfestation activities carried out by QCC using evaluated and approved insecticides.”
It said “one category of these insecticides is Ultra Low Volume (ULV) insecticides which normally are available in concentrated forms and have to be diluted using appropriate oil-based diluents (a diluting agent or thinner) prior to its application on cocoa farms.”
It added that “in the past QCC was using mineral oils in diluting ULV insecticides for disinfestation operations.”
The statement explained that “however, in compliance with International Food Safety Regulations, the Company is now employing the use of biodiesel (made from vegetable oil) as a diluent for the ULV insecticides currently in use and those being evaluated.”
It said “to make biodiesel, vegetable oils have to be transformed through hydrolysis and further subjected to transesterification. This results in the production of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) commonly referred to as biodiesel or industrial oil.”
According to the statement, “we wish to make it clear to the public that biodiesel, also called industrial oil, is very different from our everyday off-the-shelf vegetable cooking oil.”
It observed that “although biodiesel (industrial oil) is made from vegetable oil, it is not vegetable cooking oil.”
It said “It is completely different from vegetable cooking oil because it is not for edible purposes and therefore, cannot be found on the shelves of markets across the country. Again, it is important to know that, even some vegetable oils (i.e. oils from seeds of certain plants) are not good for human consumption but may have economic benefits, for example, cottonseed oil and rapeseed oil.”
In this regard, it noted, not all vegetable oils are edible vegetable cooking oils.
BY Melvin Tarlue