Illegal and carcinogenic food dyes still being found in imported spices / foods in EU

Remember the Sudan shoe polish dye brouhaha last year ? BBC “Food recalled in cancer dye scare” in February 2005 ? 359 products had to be removed and destroyed - as has the list of contaminated products from the FSA website.

Well - the EC say that illegal Sudan dyes in spices and other food products continue to be detected despite numerous clampdowns and extensions to the testing regime … curcuma (E100 or turmeric, from the plant Curcuma longis a member of the ginger family) and virgin palm oil were added to the list for testing last year.

The EC produced a leaflet The leaflet “Key Obligations of Food and Feed Business Operators” which makes it totally clear the responsibility is on the food processor to ensure illegal dyes do not enter the food chain.

Since then there has been no reduction in the number of notifications made by Member States of adulteration of spices other food products by illegal compounds, which was first reported in France in May 2003. Worrying but it shows that the traceability systems put in place are working.

Since July 2003, all cargoes of dried and crushed or ground chilli and curry powders entering the EU must have a certificate showing they have been tested and found to be free of Sudan I. No certificate – the cargo must be tested.

Random sampling must also be doen at ports and in stores with over 1,000 done a year on chilli alone, if they contain Sudan l to lV they must be destroyed.

The most important of these dyes is Para Red, being detected in 42 cases in chilli, chilli powder and products containing chilli in 2005.

Some 85 per cent of the positive findings for Para Red were done in Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition to developing testing capabilities for Sudan dyes, both Germany and the UK have also developed analytical tests for Para Red as have France and Belgium recently. In one third of the notifications on Para Red, spices originated from the Russian Federation or a former Soviet Republic. The contaminated spice was supplied by Spanish company, Ramon Sabater, and was believed to originate in Uzbekistan.The most frequent origin mentioned for Sudan dyes notifications (where it could be identified) was India.

A handy leaflet and site from the EU to tell you more about the carcinogenic properties of Sudan dyes, their fraudulent use in chilli to boost the colour (and therefore price) is available here (PDF Alert)