Food alert: Sudan I contamination of products containing Worcester Sauce supplied by Premier Foods

Monday 21 February 2005

Food Alert: for Action

Ref: 09/2005

Further to the message sent out to all local authorities on 18 February from the Food Standards Agency, a list of products known to be affected to date can now be viewed on the FSA's website:
www.food.gov.uk/sudanlist

These lists will be updated on a daily basis, to include contaminated products as they are identified.

The Food Standards Agency is aware that given the extremely large numbers of products identified as being contaminated, and the diverse nature of these products, that trade withdrawals undertaken by the manufacturers are likely to be slow and possibly ineffective in reaching caterers and smaller retailers.

Action to be taken by local authorities
As a matter of urgency, local authorities are requested to make contact with all caterers and smaller retailers in their area, and ensure that affected products are removed from sale.

In addition, local authorities are asked to alert these premises to the list of food products known to be affected, and direct them to the Agency's website. They should be encouraged to cross-reference the products that they produce/sell against the list to ensure that further products containing Sudan I are removed from sale as quickly as possible. Any local authority that cannot access the list of products known to be affected, is asked to contact the Agency

If caterers and smaller retailers find that they have affected products, they should remove them from sale immediately, and contact their supplier to discuss arrangements for removal of affected products from the supply chain.