The Department of Health, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) and the South African Association for Food Science and Technology met in Pretoria on Monday following allegations that certain chilli products were contaminated with harmful Sudan Red dyes.
The allegations were made in a Sunday Times report at the weekend. The newspaper had laboratory tests carried out on spices bought randomly from supermarkets countrywide.
Sudan Red dyes are genotoxic carcinogens that damage DNA and may cause cancer. They are legally used to colour petrol, waxes, floor and shoe polish and cosmetics, but they are not approved for use in foods.
Sibani Mngadi, spokesperson for the Department of Health, said the CGCSA, which represents some producers and major food retailers, reported at Monday’s meeting on measures to remove products that were identified in the Sunday Times report.
Earlier on Monday, the Health Department said plans were already under way to temporarily remove some of these products from supermarkets around the country.
“The Department of Health has requested local authorities in all provinces to ensure that all chilli products that are suspected to contain Sudan Red dyes arising from the report of the Sunday Times are removed from all retailers,” Mngadi said.
‘Not intentional’
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian Online, August Iwanski, CEO of the CGCSA, said that if certain products were found to possess Sudan red dye, he had “no doubt” it was accidental. “People don’t do this intentionally,” he said. “But [the situation] still has to be fixed.”
All food products are subjected to tests, but such tests are conducted on a “random” basis as it is “not physically possible” to have mandatory, full-time testing of all food products. “No one would eat,” he said.
Iwanski said the plan that emerged from Monday’s meeting was to retest the contested products to determine whether they are, in fact, contaminated with the dye.
“Appropriate action as provided for under the regulations related to inspections and investigations will be taken if the products test positive,” the Health Department’s Mngadi added.
One of the producers of the implicated products has already submitted samples from the same batch tested by Sunday Times to the Health Department for investigation. “The department intends engaging with the four other producers implicated on the matter,” Mngadi said.
Local authorities
Iwanski said it is the responsibility of local authorities to see that the situation is rectified. “We are not a police body or a watchdog,” he told the M&G Online. “The responsible legal body is the local authorities.”
Local authorities in whose areas of jurisdiction the implicated products are processed have been urged by the Health Department to consider further legal steps — including prosecution of the companies concerned if test results confirmed the presence of Sudan Red dyes.
Mngadi said: “Local authorities are further requested to sample all chilli powders and products that may contain chilli powders, including sauces, which were not a subject of the media report. If any of the Sudan Red dyes are detected, these products should be removed from the shelves and detained pending further analyses.”
Port health authorities have been told to continue to detain and sample all consignments of imported chilli powders and products that may contain chilli powders, including sauces, for the dye.
When asked about the possibility of a monitoring body that would conduct regular independent tests, Iwanski said it wasn’t practical. “Each chain has to police itself … one body can’t [be responsible for] all of them.”
“Port Health Officers have been requested to continue to detain and sample all consignments of imported chilli powders and products that may contain chilli powders, including sauces, and only release such consignments once the analysis results indicate that it is free of Sudan Red dyes,” he said.