Cancer agents in Chinese Heinz foods

US food giant Heinz is recalling some of their chilli sauces, chilli oils and other products in China due to a suspion they contain the cancer-causing red dye, Sudan-I, already at the centre of a European health scare.

It was found in a pepper sauce made by a Heinz subsidiary, Heinz Meiweiyuan Food based in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong province.

The discovery led to the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine to order the company to immediately recall all suspected products and banned their sale.

Heinz has told its distributors and sales agencies across the country to recall the suspected products, says Charles Chyi, regional president of Heinz China Investment and Heinz officials promptly released a statement stating the company was co-operating with authorities on their investigation. The investigation is still ongoing, and it appears the Sudan-I came from the pepper extract supplied by one of Heinz' raw material suppliers. Six products by Heinz companies are suspected of containing Sudan-I.

Supermarkets in Guangdong's capital have been ordered to stop selling pepper-related products manufactured by Heinz.

A province-wide inspection has been launched by authorities to track down pepper and sauce-related products and inspect Heinz's food suppliers and related companies to find the sources of Sudan-I.

The FDA in the UK was alerted in February that the cancer-causing dye had been found in a batch of chilli powder made by Premier Foods, one of the country's largest food and beverage companies.

The dye was also found in products by Schweppes, Coca-Cola and Unilever.

Sudan-I is traditionally used for colouring solvents, oils, waxes, petrol and shoe and floor polishes.