The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has asked retailers and caterers not to sell or use a lowg-rade Spanish olive oil until further notice.
The request follows a warning by the European Commission that "pomace" oil, made from olive residues, may contain toxins.
The Commission's warning was based on information received from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumers.
The product was withdrawn from the market in Spain after it was found to contain excessive levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), toxins which, in cases of long-term exposure, can pose serious health risks.
Olive pomace oil is available in Ireland, but is used mainly by the catering trade and by manufacturers of olive-oil spreads.
The FSAI complained it had only limited information on the extent of the problem and said the incident highlighted the problems of tracing foods on the international market.
The authority's director of operations, Mr Alan Reilly, added: "While the European Commission has issued a rapid food alert, we do not as yet have a full list of products that are affected, brand names or batch codes in order that we can carry out a product recall."
The authority would announce product details as soon as these became available, he said.
In the meantime, consumers should avoid all Spanish olive pomace oil products, while wholesalers and retailers should remove them from sale.
Pomace oil is the lowest-quality olive oil, made by solvent extraction of residues from already pressed olives.
PAHs are a group of more than 100 different chemicals formed during certain technological processes, and deemed by the World Health Organisation to be a serious health risk where long-term exposure occurs.