February 19, 2005
ASSOCIATED PRESS, CANADIAN PRESS
LONDON—Britain's
Food Standards Agency triggered an international alert yesterday after
hundreds of products may have been contaminated with a dye linked to
cancer and shipped to Canada, the United States and much of Europe and
the Caribbean.
The agency said the dye, Sudan I, was in a batch of chili powder used by
Premier Foods to make a Worcestershire sauce. That, in turn, was used as
an ingredient in more than 350 frozen and fresh food products, including
pies, sandwiches, sausages, soups and sauces.
Canadian food safety authorities began the task yesterday of trying to
determine which of the products covered by the recall made it to Canada
and where in the distribution chain those products were.
"We've received a list of products that could contain the dye and
that could have come our way," said Alain Charette of the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency. "We don't know that for sure and we're
investigating this so we're looking into it and trying to determine what
product made it into the country — if any."
Charette said if the investigation shows any products containing the
banned dye made it to the retail level in Canada, the items will be
recalled.
"The moment we have this (information), we share it with the
public."
The British food agency said it learned of the contamination when
Italian authorities inspected a batch exported there by Premier. It said
the sauce had been sent to Canada, the United States, France, Greece,
Switzerland, Ireland, France, Denmark, Holland, Austria, Cyprus,
Belgium, Bermuda, Grenada, the Bahamas and Antigua.
A Health Canada official said the risk in this case from the dye —
considered a suspected carcinogen because it has been shown in at least
one study to trigger cancer in an animal species — may be very low.
Sudan I is a red dye generally used for colouring oils, waxes, gasoline
and shoe polish.