Soy sauce shows improvements

Wednesday 11 December 2002

A Food Standards Agency survey of soy sauce published today shows there is a significant improvement in shop-bought sauce since the Agency's previous survey.

The survey looked at levels of the chemicals 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP in 99 different types of soy sauce sold in a variety of retail stores across the UK. Only 6 of the samples contained unacceptable levels of 3-MCPD compared with nearly a quarter of the samples tested in the 2001 survey. One of these samples also contained low levels of 1,3-DCP.

3-MCPD is a chemical formed at low levels in a variety of foods and food ingredients as a result of processing. It can cause cancer in laboratory animals when it is fed to them in large amounts over a lifetime. It is possible that it may have the same affect on people who eat foods containing high levels of it in most of their meals over their lifetime.

1,3-DCP is a derivative of 3-MCPD and is thought to cause cancer in laboratory animals by damaging genes. It is possible but not certain that it would have the same affect on people as laboratory animals and so experts advise that it should not be present in food at any level.

Steve Wearne, Head of Chemical Contaminants at the Food Standards Agency said: 'This survey was carried out by the Food Standards Agency to see if companies had taken action since we found high levels of 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP in a significant number of soy sauce products in June 2001. We are pleased that this survey shows that significant progress has been made.

'These results show how important it is that we do these surveys and how they can be a spur to action by manufacturers. It is possible to produce soy sauce without these chemicals being formed at high levels. More and more companies are getting that message. Nevertheless, some manufacturers are still making products with unacceptable levels of contamination.

'There is no immediate risk from 3-MCPD and most people are not affected. You have to eat soy sauce with high levels of 3-MCPD regularly over many years for there to be a health risk, which is why this is an issue for the Chinese and South East Asian community in particular. It is reassuring for these communities that the situation has improved.'

The Agency is taking action to remove from sale the batches of products with unacceptable levels of 3-MCPD. The chemicals could cause harm if eaten over a long period of time and so the Agency advice to the public is to avoid the affected batches.

The Agency will carry out a further survey next year with local authorities and will encourage them to take appropriate action against any companies that are still not complying with the legal limits.