EFET on alert over dye scare
After a new food scare in Britain, Greece’s food safety watchdog is on alert in case it needs to withdraw any products from the market, the organization’s head told Kathimerini yesterday. Yiannis Vlemmas, the president of the Hellenic Food Authority (EFET), said there had been no instructions so far from EU authorities to take action after two types of product were withdrawn from British supermarket shelves in the last few days because they were found to contain a banned dye. The substance, Para Red, was found in paprika and rice cakes. The British Food Standards Agency says Para Red is similar to Sudan I, a carcinogenic substance that in February was found to have contaminated a batch of Worcester Sauce, causing the recall of more than 350 food products. Then, EFET also targeted a range of products including salad dressings, Chinese sauces and noodles. The European Commission has also warned authorities to be on the lookout for two other colouring agents, Rhodamine and Orange 2, which have been banned since 1995 but were recently found in food products in Germany.
