More foods recalled amid Sudan 1 scare

Five new food products have been added to the growing list of items being withdrawn from supermarket shelves as a precautionary measure over fears that it could be tainted with the potentially cancer-causing Sudan 1 red dye.

Two Branston sauces - Rich & Fruity Sauce, and Spicy Sweet Pickle - as well as three Marks and Spencer canned products - Canned Oxtail Soup, Chunky 3 Bean Soup and Tuscan Bean & Sausage - are the latest foods added to the list.

So far in Malta, nine products are being recalled as a precaution as opposed to the UK where more than 470 products, ranging from ready-made meals to popular sauces, have been withdrawn.

European public health officials are also scrambling to ensure this carcinogenic red dye is taken out of the continent's food chain. Sudan 1 has already been found in 12 member states.

The Department of Public Health has received information via the EU's rapid alert system for food and feed to withdraw just three products - the two Branston sauces and the Crosse & Blackwell Worchester Sauce.

However, local traders had also come forward and advised the department to inform the public not to consume the remaining six food products as a precaution due to possible contamination from Sudan 1.

Sudan 1, a carcinogenic red dye used to colour solvents, oils, waxes, petrol and shoe and floor polishes, is prohibited for use in foodstuffs by the EU.

This illegal red dye was banned from use in food products following experiments on rats, which suggested that the chemical could trigger the formation of malignant tumours.

However, the health risk is minimal and Alan Boobis, an expert in toxicology at Imperial College London, told the BBC News Website that there was little reason for the public to be alarmed.

He pointed out that the levels of the chemical fed to the rats bore no relation to the kind of levels that people would be exposed to if they ate contaminated products.

The rats that showed signs of developing tumours were given a daily dose of Sudan 1 of around 30 milligrams/kg of bodyweight for two years. Animals given a lower dose, 15 milligrams/kg of bodyweight, showed no signs of cancer-related changes.

The contaminated food products would contain Sudan 1 doses of a much smaller magnitude - micrograms, rather than milligrams.

The department's advice is that whoever happened to have these products in their cupboards to refrain from consuming them simply as a precaution. For further information call the department on of 2133-2225 or 2133-7333 on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.