JEDDAH, 21 February 2007 — Officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and municipalities confiscated carcinogenic materials from 10 factories in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah that produce taheena, a thick sauce made of sesame oil, reports said yesterday.
Jeddah Municipality’s market monitoring officials said they had found six factories in the city producing taheena, containing titanium dioxide, Al-Yaum daily reported quoting an informed source.
Municipal officials in Dammam seized and destroyed a large quantity of tainted taheena at a factory. They fined the factory’s owners, the daily said.
The raids came after officials discovered 20,000 kg of taheena containing titanium at a warehouse. Officials have also confiscated 800 tins of taheena in another raid.
Titanium dioxide has recently been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as an IARC Group 2B carcinogen.
Titanium dioxide accounts for 70 percent of the total production volume of pigments worldwide. It is widely used to provide whiteness and opacity to products such as paints, plastic, paper, ink, food, and toothpaste. It is also used in cosmetic and skin care products.
Taheena is widely used in Saudi Arabia as food topping. Factories have been supplying the product to restaurants in tins without mentioning its contents.
According to a report carried by the Canadian Center for Occupational Health & Safety, high concentrations of pigment-grade (powdered) and ultra fine titanium dioxide dust caused respiratory tract cancer in rats exposed by inhalation and intra-tracheal instillation.
The series of biological events or steps that produce the rat lung cancers (e.g. particle deposition, impaired lung clearance, cell injury, fibrosis, mutations and ultimately cancer) have also been seen in people working in dusty environments.
The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has decided to close down all factories that supply taheena containing titanium dioxide. Last December, municipal officials confiscated taheena tins containing the dangerous material from 29 factories in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah.
According to one municipal official, titanium dioxide is found in many other food products at internationally acceptable levels. Some cafeterias use white taheena containing the cancerous substance in order to attract clients, especially Saudis. The municipality wants the public to reject white taheenas for the protection of their health.
