An assembly woman has appealed to residents of Winneba Junction who collected palm oil from a tanker involved in an accident on Tuesday not to consume the product.

The Assemblywoman for the Kojo Beedu North-Winneba Junction Electoral Area, Madam Elizabeth Awo Sena, told the GNA in an interview that documents covering the palm oil showed that it was industrial palm oil meant for soap making and not for human consumption.

She said on October 14 a truck conveying a heavy machine from Accra hit the side the oil tanker that had packed at the shoulder of the road at Winneba Junction. Oil poured from the tanker and people rushed to the scene with containers and collected large quantity of the oil to their homes for use.

Some of the residents also used foam to collect oil from the gutter. She commended the police for their quick response to stop people from further collecting the oil and also to direct traffic to avoid accident.

Mr Eddrisu Shani, Effutu Municipal Environmental Health Officer, described the behaviour of the residents as unacceptable.

He said personnel from his outfit seized quantities of the oil from the residents and buried it and appealed to people to report to health officers those still having the oil in their homes.

Me Shani said any caterer who would be found to have used the oil to prepare food for sale would be dealt with.