A major food safety alert has emerged. The French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery has released an updated list of products withdrawn from supermarket shelves. Following recent cheese recalls due to listeriosis, now ice creams, biscuits, and chocolates are affected by ethylene oxide, a banned insecticide classified as carcinogenic. This substance has contaminated over 9,000 products available in stores. Ingrid Kragl from Foodwatch describes it as a "real health scandal."
The issue began in September 2020 with an alert on ethylene oxide in a sesame batch in Belgium. Since then, Foodwatch's Ingrid Kragl notes the scale is staggering: "We have likely been consuming ethylene oxide-exposed products for years." The list of affected items continues to expand.
This chemical is categorized as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic (CMR). According to the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention), it "may cause genetic defects and is prohibited in the EU as a food or animal feed protectant since 2011."
Current recalls focus heavily on ice cream, including sticks from brands like Milka, Côte d'Or, Daim, and Toblerone, as well as tubs from La Laitière.
If you have these ice creams at home, return them to the store for a refund or dispose of them safely.
Review the official list of recalled products for full details.
