THE government has sent inspectors to supermarkets and food importers in an effort to ensure consumers are not exposed to any products contaminated with the illegal dye, Sudan I.
Panayiotis Tsangaris, chief health inspector at the Ministry of Health, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail an investigation was “ongoing”, after the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) last week issued a warning that around 350 food products may be affected and should be withdrawn from the shelves. Many of the products are available in Cyprus.
Tsangaris added that municipal inspectors have also visited supermarkets to make sure products that may have been affected are removed.
Petros Marcou, President of the Consumers Association, said “consumers need to be kept informed and be alert in case they’ve bought any affected products, which they should obviously not use”. He urged consumers to return the products to where they were bought so they can get a refund, which they are entitled to under current legislation.
“Goods already in supermarkets must be withdrawn from the shelves and not sold to consumers.”
He added that it is the duty of EU member states to take part in a “rapid exchange of information programme” concerning food safety and faulty goods.
Stelios Nicolaou, food category director at Orphanides, the country’s biggest supermarket chain, said the government had not yet been in touch with the company, so they had had to log on to the FSA website to get information on the problem. “No inspectors have come here so far, but we are expecting them in the next couple of days. We have also not had any customers come back with any products bought here, but if they do, we will naturally offer them a refund”.
Sudan I is a red dye used for colouring solvents, oil, waxes, petrol and shoe and floor polishes. It is not allowed to be added to food in the EU.
The FSA triggered an international food safety alert last Friday after the dye was imported to Britain in a chilli powder and used in a batch of Worcestershire sauce. The sauce was then used to flavour hundreds of British foods and exported to several European and Caribbean countries and to North America.
Since July 2003, all chilli and curry powder imported into Britain must be certified to be free of Sudan I, but the batch that contaminated the sauce predated a safety sampling programme.
The company at the centre of the scare, Premier Foods, said on Friday that it had certificates from its suppliers that guaranteed the chilli it used was free of Sudan 1.
Chilli and curry powder, less vulnerable to microbiological hazards, have a long shelf life.
Food makers are advised to analyse any stocks of chilli and curry powder, bought in before the EU imposed the ban on Sudan I, to minimise the risk of expensive recalls and harm to brand reputation.
Dr Jon Bell, chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, said: “Sudan 1 could contribute to an increased risk of cancer. At the levels present the risk is likely to be very small but it is sensible to avoid eating any products that may be affected. There is no risk of immediate ill health.”
n A full list of affected products can be found at http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/sudani/sudanlist. The website is regularly updated.
