Sudan 1 illegal food dye spectre re-emerges

The illegal food dye Sudan 1 has reared its head again in the UK food supply chain after the major food scare in February 2005.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a product recall alert on May 22 concerning Alif Foods ‘Mix Bisar’ spice mix, which is manufactured and exported by Euro Traders in Pakistan.

The FSA said it believed the product to be mainly sold in the Bradford area in 800g plastic bags by ethnic food wholesalers and retailers. However, it said it could be sold in other areas, particularly northern England. The affected product has a packing date of March 2008 and an expiry date of February 2010.
As this story ermerged, it was unclear whether the product could have been sold to processors themselves as a raw ingredient or whether it was only available to retailers.
Sudan 1 has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and it is thought it could contribute to the development of cancer in humans. Since July 2003 all chilli products imported into the UK have had to be certified free of the dye.
The 2005 Sudan 1 scare provoked the recall of more than 470 products, including Premier Foods’ Crosse & Blackwell Worcester Sauce brand.
A spokesman for the FSA said: “We don’t know how it got into the food chain, but investigations are ongoing.”
Local authorities have been asked to visit or make contact with ethnic food suppliers in their area that are likely to stock the product.
If a local authority finds any other packing or date codes of the product, it should sample the product for Sudan I dye and tell the Agency of any positive results, the FSA said. The local authority should also make sure appropriate enforcement action is taken.
For more information, visit the FSA’s website​.