Baobab oil hazardous to health, warns TFDA

Dar es Salaam. A controversial debate erupted last week over the consumption of Baobab oil, prompting intervention of health experts to clarify scientific issues surrounding the safety of Baobab, increasingly used as a dietary supplement in many parts of Tanzania.

As medical professionals tried to present a descriptive analysis on the safety of baobab oil consumption, the would-be potential consumers were also struggling to get the truth in the story from newspapers.

The main issue is whether or not Baobab oil has any negative side effects on human health, especially when used as a dietary supplement. Many consumers of Baobab oil are reluctant to accept scientifically-proven reality that Baobab oil contains ingredients which are detrimental to human health.

But before touching the safety part of the Baobab story, it is imperative to digest some of the important elements associated with Baobab products.

Baobab, scientifically known as Adansonia digitata, is a tree species found in many parts of Africa and people use it for many purposes including relish, preparation of juice and of late “cure-all oil medication.” In fact, Baobab products may be used as food, drugs and cosmetics.

According to a recent study conducted by researcher Aberl Deule at the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), the majority of Tanzanians use Baobab products as food. Its dry fruit pulp, for example, has been consumed as food.

Its market covers 51.5 per cent of Baobab products and is now exported to the European Union as a novel foodstuff.

Rich in vitamin C, baobab dry fruit pulp is also used in making juice, tea, ice-cream and is mixed with other ingredients to make baby food.

Baobab products are increasingly fetching lucrative markets outside Tanzania, including Europe and other parts of the world, thus bringing in foreign exchange.

“But acceptability of baobab dried fruit pulp by the European Union is an indication of marketability and a call for standardisation,” says Deule, in his research paper, entitled “Regulating Food Drugs and Cosmetics from a Single Source-Baobab Plant”. Baobab seed oil dregs are used for soap making, while baobab barks and roots have been used as medicine, according to the study.

Some studies indicate that baobab products depict medicinal properties including antioxidant, prebiotic-like activity, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic activity, anti-diarrhoea, anti-dysentery activity and excipient. These properties make baobab products widely used in both traditional and modern medicine.

It is also reported that baobab leaves have multiple uses—as a drug, vegetable and sometimes cosmetic, and at times they are used to treat peptic ulcers, as a drug against typhoid and give strength to the body.

Although the use of baobab oil is gaining popularity, Deule says, “these claims are yet to be proved scientifically,” suggesting more extensive research studies to justify the proper use of baobab products such as baobab oil.

In his research, the TFDA expert notes that the use of baobab oil as food is limited by the presence of Cyclopropene fatty acids, one of the anti-nutritionals that are toxic to humans, who consume unrefined baobab oil.

TFDA last week issued a clarification statement on the controversy. In the strongly-worded statement, TFDA warns members of the public against drinking baobab oil, saying it contains substances that have carcinogenic effects.

The food and drug watchdog says baobab oil contains high degree of Cyclopropenoid fatty acids (CPFA) which are dangerous to human health.

Baobab oil contains CPFA at the range between 10 and 12.8 per cent, depending on the nature of a baobab product. The level of CPFA, which cannot harm (tolerate limit) consumers of baobab oil, is 0.4 per cent.

According to TFDA, people who consume/drink baobab oil are at risk of developing cancer. “According to laboratory tests, mixing baobab oil with animal feeds has many adverse health effects. In animals this includes retarded growth, decreased egg production in hens and disruption of smooth functioning of enzymes. Similar side effects could also face human beings consuming/drinking baobab oil,” said TFDA director-general Hiiti Sillo in a statement.

Small and medium-scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) and vendors involved in the baobab oil business claim that a dose of baobab oil normally administered using a tea-spoon is highly potent in treating various conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, obesity and abdominal ailments.

But Mr Sillo said after testing the baobab oil it was found to contain harmful chemicals, which should not be orally taken by human beings, until the chemical was extracted.

TFDA says there are two ways of reducing the level of Cyclopropenoic fatty acids (CPFA) from baobab oil - one is through boiling the baobab oil at the temperature of 180 degrees Celsius for eight hours and second by using extracting technology known as hydrogenation.

At the moment, according to the TFDA, the technology of extracting harmful chemicals is not available in the country, urging members of the public to stop drinking the baobab oil.

Until now, there are no national and international standards to prove the safety and quality of baobab oil, according to the TFDA statement.

“We are witnessing an influx of vendors selling baobab oil, parading it as a ‘cure-all’ concoction. We urge members of the public to know that they are drinking it to their own peril...it contains some fatty acids that have carcinogenic effects,” TFDA official was quoted as saying.

With this controversy raging, the ministry of Health and Social Welfare has promised to conduct an extensive public education to mobilise Tanzanians on the consumption of harmful drugs (including those made from of baobab oil) without medical prescription from competent medics.

It is through public awareness that will enable citizens to take precautions before buying and using drugs, deputy minister for Health Seif Rashid was recently quoted as saying.

But TFDA insisted that doors are open for those who claim that boabab could be used as medicine, to submit their requests to TFDA for rectification of quality, safety, standard and efficacy, before being allowed for public consumption.

“However, people could still use boabab oil as raw materials for making cosmetics, soap and other purposes, but should not be used as food,” said TFDA official statement.