Scare spreads to HK as supermarkets clear their shelves of products withdrawn in Britain
Food and hygiene officials were scrambling last night to identify how many food products containing a cancer-causing dye at the centre of a worldwide scare were on sale in Hong Kong.
ParknShop said it had removed four items from its shelves that had been withdrawn in Britain. They were among 360 food items recently found to contain a red dye, Sudan 1, blacklisted by the Food Standards Agency in Britain.
It is used for colouring solvents, oils, waxes, petrol and shoe polish, and it is illegal to add it to food in Britain and the European Union.
The dye somehow got into a batch of chilli powder that was used in a large consignment of Crosse and Blackwell Worcester sauce in Britain made by Premier Foods. The sauce was then used as an ingredient in at least 359 products made by supermarkets and food companies.
Ho Yuk-yin, consultant to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, warned that the department would take legal action against outlets if they were found to be selling products with the dye, which is also banned in Hong Kong.
Dr Ho said the department was seeking data from supermarkets to identify whether the products had been sold locally. But the department had not compiled the list of food products last night.