Is it safe to eat dyed sesame seeds - latest food scare

You would never have guessed that unscrupulous businessmen would try to make the extra profit margin by processing sesame seeds with cheaper substitutes. While they must be exposed and stopped, it is important to verify through lab tests whether and what amounts of harmful ingredients are present in the sesame seeds. (Note : black sesame seeds are more expensive than white sesame seeds.)

This is a reputable brand of imported dried goods sold at many grocers. Hopefully other products imported by this company have not be adulterated. (Hint : the company's initials are D.C. - can you make a guess?)



I've summarised the description from my friend's first hand account :

{ yesterday I tried to cook some black sesame soup. I usually wash the
sesame seed, drain all the water and wok-fry to dry them before grinding
them. After first two washes, I reckoned that it was not normal as the
water seemed too dark for the natural color. You can see from the photo the color of the water. That sink of water was after about ten washes. I kept trying to wash them in order to see that what it could reveal. I then found that some whiter seed appeared ... then I [realised] why a month ago, the sesame seed I ground had no aroma at all, but a bit of chemical smell (at that time, I didn't wash it as the portion was very little.) I asked my dear family members to smell the wet "black" sesame seeds. All confirmed that it is like 涼粉 [at least one ingredient was ] ... I couldn't taste any sesame flavour. }

Water after the 10th wash is still jet black!

Though 涼粉 also known as xian cao or chin chow or grass jelly is edible, we really do not know what other ingredients were present in the tainted sesame seeds.

Many white seeds appeared after many rounds of rinsing. We could safely conclude that the seeds have been dyed black - exactly by what chemicals? yet to be confirmed.

I normally don't bother to make black sesame broth from scratch but would buy ready to mix sachets. The "Green xx" brand has served us well so far. We might want to stay clear of black sesame seeds for garnishing rice or making delicious desserts for a while.

- First hand Information from a reliable source