Further products withdrawn in food cancer scare

ALMOST 70 food products have been recalled from the Irish market following an alert by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) about an illegal red food dye which has cancer-causing properties.

An additional 16 items were yesterday added to the list of products which contain the colourant Sudan Red 1 which is used to manufacture chilli powder and which has been banned throughout Europe since 2003.

The FSAI issued a warning on Friday about a variety of ready meals, soups and sauces which contained the dye.

Among the latest products added to the list were a number of Tesco and Weight Watchers ready meals, as well as a number of Schwartz products.

The products that had already been recalled included several Marks and Spencer ready meals and soups as well as some Heinz and Iceland products.

The illegal colourant had been used to make chilli powder which was then used to make Worcester sauce. All the products that have been recalled contained the Worcester sauce.

In Britain, an additional 100 products were withdrawn yesterday bringing the total to over 450.

The FSAI chief executive Dr John O'Brien said that, while more products may be added to the list in the coming days, he was confident the authority was catching most of the products at this stage.

"We're dealing with a situation where the risk to consumers is very low," he said. The dye would have to be consumed over a long period to have posed a health risk.

"However, if you drop a sandwich on the street, even if you know it's safe, you don't eat it," he said.

"What concerns us is that an illegal colour was used. We cannot accept this."

The authority is advising consumers that if they have these products at home, they should either throw them out or return them to the shop where they purchased them.

The FSAI is also working with Irish retailers and manufacturers to immediately recall any affected products and remove them from the market.

A list of known products is available on the authority's website www.fsai.ie and will be updated on an ongoing basis until the authority is satisfied that no contaminated product is available on the Irish market.

The FSAI helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm on telephone number 1890-336677.