Thank you for the greeting, George - I was nervous at first, didn't want to get shot down in flames for trying to help!!  I believe the "not for internal consumption" is a manufacturer's safeguard against the possibility of someone falling ill after consuming way too much of the stuff (ie: the issue of the allergen erucic acid - bit like saying: may contain nuts on a chewing gum packet because it was made in a factory that produces other foodstuffs that do contain nuts).  However, I think Mr. Paresh Mehta, Manager, KTC (the mustard oil I use) sums it up in this part of his statement that I found while researching, on spicesofindia.co.uk's website:  "EU Directive 80/891/EEC requires the erucic acid content of foods to be no greater than 5%. As a consequence, no pure mustard oil may be classified as a food".  I guess if it can't be classified as a food, then it has to be classed as not for internal consumption!  I doubt the hygiene issue is relevant and as the bottle isn't marked with a skull and crossbones or 'harmful if swallowed', I will continue to use it.  As I intimated in my original post, there were also some big questions raised over coconut oil some years back (gives the best fried eggs, ever) - now, its running a pretty close second to sliced bread!!  But of course, if the sliced bread isn't organic and wholemeal, it ain't any good for you!!! Hope I've helped and bear this in mind - if you've been to a curry house, you've almost certainly consumed mustard oil.  Regards, CurryFeverFan aka Trish x