Flip
21-02-2005, 07:34 PM
I am incensed by this latest food scare.
Not only has the food agency acted far too slowly in this present scare, not only have they not given the supermarkets very little guidance - they have hardly given the public any information at all.
It annoys me greatly, Dr Jon Bell, of the Food Standards Agency, says [i]'There is no risk of immediate illness and the health risk genereally is likely to be very small'. Yet, in the next breath he says 'But if you have any of these products at home it's sensible not to eat them'.
So either there is a risk or there isn't.
I, initially was not in the least bit worried about this scare, in the knowledge that I wouldn't have anything contaminated by this dye, Sudan 1. But when I heard, only today, that the main culprit was Worcestshire Sauce - then I did worry slightly, as I do have a bottle of this in the storecupboard.
I checked the Food Standard Agency Website:
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2005/feb/update
and found the Worcestshire sauce affected was not the type I had at home [thankfully].
But as I read on - I realised how huge and widespread this scare is - the list is near on exhaustive, and includes, the dip in sauces you get at McDonalds Fast Food places [somewhere I never ever go] - but all supermarkets are affected. M & S, Asda, Aldi, Somerfield, Tesco, Morrisons, CWS [Co-op], Waitrose, and others.
And foods affected include stuff made by: Schwartz, Walkers, Aunt Bessie's, Pot Noodles, Pret a Manger, Bird's Eye, Colman's, Crosse and Blackwell, Heinz, SChweppes and Unilever.
Quite a comprehensive list - most of which are ready made meals, or cook in sauces.
I would check your cupboards.
And why on earth have they not made this list available to the public - yeah it is public if you have access to the internet - but I know tons of people who do not - how do they get info???
I just think another shabby reporting and dealing with a scare, which could be dangerous.
Not only has the food agency acted far too slowly in this present scare, not only have they not given the supermarkets very little guidance - they have hardly given the public any information at all.
It annoys me greatly, Dr Jon Bell, of the Food Standards Agency, says [i]'There is no risk of immediate illness and the health risk genereally is likely to be very small'. Yet, in the next breath he says 'But if you have any of these products at home it's sensible not to eat them'.
So either there is a risk or there isn't.
I, initially was not in the least bit worried about this scare, in the knowledge that I wouldn't have anything contaminated by this dye, Sudan 1. But when I heard, only today, that the main culprit was Worcestshire Sauce - then I did worry slightly, as I do have a bottle of this in the storecupboard.
I checked the Food Standard Agency Website:
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2005/feb/update
and found the Worcestshire sauce affected was not the type I had at home [thankfully].
But as I read on - I realised how huge and widespread this scare is - the list is near on exhaustive, and includes, the dip in sauces you get at McDonalds Fast Food places [somewhere I never ever go] - but all supermarkets are affected. M & S, Asda, Aldi, Somerfield, Tesco, Morrisons, CWS [Co-op], Waitrose, and others.
And foods affected include stuff made by: Schwartz, Walkers, Aunt Bessie's, Pot Noodles, Pret a Manger, Bird's Eye, Colman's, Crosse and Blackwell, Heinz, SChweppes and Unilever.
Quite a comprehensive list - most of which are ready made meals, or cook in sauces.
I would check your cupboards.
And why on earth have they not made this list available to the public - yeah it is public if you have access to the internet - but I know tons of people who do not - how do they get info???
I just think another shabby reporting and dealing with a scare, which could be dangerous.