Tainted cooking oil kills 8 in Ethiopia

03 June, 2008

ADDIS ABABA - Authorities closed 16 cooking oil factories in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday after eight people were killed and scores sickened by food cooked with contaminated oil.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said 94 people were in hospital with suspected poisoning, and urged the public to only buy cooking oil marked with government safety stamps.

"Study indicated that a highly toxic oily fruit, unfit for human consumption, had been mixed with other ingredients by the factories processing edible oil," the statement said.

Investigations into work practices at the 16 shuttered businesses were continuing, government officials said. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis) (For full Reuterrs coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit africa.reuters.com/)