diff --git a/src/caosadvancedtools/cfood.py b/src/caosadvancedtools/cfood.py
index bd5cb5108f59f86c3e0758d3f14e1b18bf812797..d43dc8f943545d618bfb447423654012fc547d32 100644
--- a/src/caosadvancedtools/cfood.py
+++ b/src/caosadvancedtools/cfood.py
@@ -151,6 +151,15 @@ class AbstractCFood(object):
 
         get_ids_for_entities_with_names(self.to_be_updated)
 
+        # remove duplicates
+        tmp = db.Container()
+
+        for el in self.to_be_updated:
+            if el not in tmp:
+                tmp.append(el)
+
+        self.to_be_updated = tmp
+
         if self.verbosity >= INFO:
             print("/"*60)
             print("UPDATE: updating the following entities")