NZ checks for products recalled in Britain

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is checking if products sold here have been contaminated with an illegal dye that could lead to an increased risk of cancer.

Britain's Food Standards Agency triggered an international food safety alert on Friday after the red dye, Sudan 1, was imported to Britain in a chilli powder and used in a batch of Worcestershire sauce.

The sauce was then used to flavour hundreds of British foods and exported to several European and Caribbean countries and to North America.

Italian authorities inspected a batch of food exported there by British company Premier Foods, and the alarm was raised.

The risk was small, but Sudan 1 could contribute to an increased risk of cancer, chief executive of the British agency Jon Bell said.

Sudan 1 is a dye generally used for colouring oils, waxes, petrol and shoe polish. It is banned from food in Britain and the European Union.

Since July 2003 all chilli powder imported into Britain must be certified to be free of Sudan 1, but the batch that contaminated the sauce pre-dated a safety sampling programme.

In Britain, the agency warned consumers against eating more than 350 frozen and fresh food products, including pies, sandwiches, sausages, soups and sauces, which contained the Worcestershire sauce.

The brands involved included Crosse and Blackwell, Heinz, Schweppes/Coca-Cola, Unilever and Colman's (Unilever).

Jenny Bishop, NZFSA programme manager (technical standards), said today the authority believed few, if any, of those products were in New Zealand.

"However, we have activated our tracing procedures. We are working closely with other food safety authorities, as well as New Zealand customs and public health units, to determine if any of the products were exported to New Zealand and are on sale here," she said in a statement.

Most affected batches made in the UK appeared to be "own-brand" products made for British supermarket chains.

Heinz had assured the authority that its products on sale in New Zealand were either made here or in Australia.

The NZFSA already has a monitoring programme for all four types of Sudan dyes, to prevent their import.

- NZPA