Sudan 1:UK MPs urge for ingredient inquiry
parliament have called for a 'speedy' investigation into events
that led to the contamination of the food chain by the carcinogenic
dye sudan 1, writes Lindsey Partos.
In a report published yesterday MPs voiced concern that the UK government should establish for how long the chilli powder adulteration went 'undetected' in foods on the market.
They are also calling for clarification on why UK authorities failed to detect the contamination in a product (chilli powder) used so extensively in UK food processing.
Last month the discovery of the potentially carcinogenic sudan 1, a red dye banned under European rules, in Worcester sauce - used as both a tabletop sauce and food ingredient - brand made by UK manufacturer Premier Foods triggered the recall of over 600 well-know processed food products on the UK supermarket shelves.
Too early to put a true figure on the cost of the recall, that includes sales loss, destruction, management time plus the 'softer' costs like brand damage, estimates are rolling at €143 million.
If responsibility stops at Premier Foods, the largest food recall in the UK's food industry will weigh heavily on funds at the St.Albans-based company.
EU rules on traceability and the resulting paper trail are in place to avoid illegal ingredients from contaminating the European food chain; but despite this, doses of sudan 1 filtered into the food processing system.
But European rules banning sudan 1 to IV, classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, were only imposed in 1995. And in 2003, new rules mean that all dried and crushed or ground chilli entering the EU must be accompanied by a certificate showing that it has been tested and found to be free of the illegal dye.
As such, one explication for the UK sudan contamination is that food processors used old stocks of chilli purchased before the 2003 rules.
Adopting this reasoning, Europe's health commissioner Markos Kyprianou has clearly laid responsibility with the food processors.
"Old stocks of chilli from before June 2003 appear still to be used by food processors. Certain industrial operators have not faced up to their responsibilities and cleaned up their stocks of raw material," he said last month.
Premier Foods said early last month that it had certificates from the suppliers of the chilli powder it later used in formulations that guaranteed the chilli used was free of sudan 1.
If this is the case, and as highlighted by Kyprianou, contamination occurred because the processors used old stocks that pre-date the EU emergency measures.
Premier Foods confirmed in February to FoodNavigator.com that the stocks were brought in before July 2003.
But failing to double check and test the "old" ingredient prior to using it in formulations post-2003 could be an extremely costly event for the food processors linked to the UK recall.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee that published the report yesterday said the government should establish how long the illegal product had been used in chilli powder.
