Contamination of Sammy's easy cook zesty lemon and coriander couscous with Sudan I dye

Thursday 2 October 2003

Category C: Action as deemed necessary

Heads of Environmental Health Services and Directors of Trading Standards will wish to be aware that Sammy's Easy Cook Lemon and Coriander Couscous, manufactured by First Quality Foods, has been found to be contaminated with the illegal dye, Sudan I.

Sudan I is not a permitted colour under the Colours in Food Regulations 1995. It is considered to be a genotoxic carcinogen and its presence, at any level, is not permitted in foodstuffs for any purpose.

This product has been on sale in selected Tesco Stores throughout the UK (excluding Tesco Express Stores) and Makro Self Service Wholesalers. First Quality Foods has undertaken a trade withdrawal on 1 October 2003 of all affected product with the following best before dates:

Tesco	Makro
07.09.2004	30.12.2004
08.09.2004	01.01.2005
24.09.2004	04.01.2005
	09.01.2005

No other First Quality Foods Sammy's Brand is known to be affected.

Identification of the product:
Brand Name: Sammy's
Name of Product: Easy Cook Couscous Zesty Lemon & Coriander

This product was sold through Tesco stores in 200g packets with a white background and the name 'easy cook couscous Zesty Lemon & Coriander' in green lettering.

This product was sold in Makro stores in 1.5kg clear jars with a red lid and a label with a green background and the name 'easy cook couscous Zesty Lemon & Coriander' mainly in white lettering.

To assist local authorities in correct indentification of this product, pictures can be viewed below.

Action to be taken by local authorities:

The product presents a health risk if consumed in sufficient quantity, and does not comply with the food safety requirements specified in the Food Safety Act 1990 due to contamination with Sudan 1. In addition Sudan 1 is not a permitted colour.

It is believed that the trade withdrawal has been effective and that it is unlikely that any affected product remains on sale. The company has indicated that it produced 13,600 units of the 200g pack sold through Tesco and 264 units of the 1.5 kg jar sold through Makro. If any of these products are found on sale within their area, enforcement officers should ensure that they are withdrawn from sale and destroyed. However, there is the possibility that unused affected product may be in consumers' homes. Local authorities are therefore asked to consider publicising this issue at the next available opportunity. For that purpose local authorities may wish to refer to the Food Standards Agency's press release, which can be found on the FSA website as a guide as to what to say in any local news release.