Contamination of Blue Bay brand 100% pure palm oil with Sudan IV dye

Monday 19 July 2004

Category C: For action as deemed necessary

Ref: 31/2004 (England) D32/2004 (Scotland)

Category D: For Information (Scotland)

A batch of Blue Bay Brand 100% Pure Palm Oil has been found to be contaminated with the illegal dye, Sudan IV.

Sudan IV is not a permitted colour under the Colours in Food Regulations 1995. It is considered to be a genotoxic carcinogen and its presence, at any level, is not permitted in foodstuffs for any purpose.

The affected product was manufactured by Home Foods Processing and Cannery Ltd in Accra, Ghana, for Yadco Quality Foods of 71 Ashfield Road, London, N4 1PB. Yadco distributes the product predominantly in the London Boroughs to small retail premises. The product has not been distributed to or within Scotland.

Yadco has ceased distributing the affected batch and placed point of sale notices in its retail outlet.

The affected batch Is:

1litre Blue Bay 100% Palm Oil
'best before' 31 Dec 2006

2litre Blue Bay 100% Palm Oil
'best before' 31 Dec 2006

No other Yadco products are known to be affected.

Identification of the products
The 1litre product is packed in a plastic jar with a white screwtop lid that has on it the word Yadco printed in white writing on a red background. The label is fixed to the middle of the jar with the product visible above and below it. On the front of the label the words Blue Bay are printed in white on a tropical sunset background. Immediately beneath printed in red, in three different languages, is 100% Pure Palm Oil. The Best Before Date and the words Product of West Africa appear in white writing in the green border around the edge of the label. The back of the label depicts a bottle of Blue Bay palm oil being emptied into a frying pan. Beneath this, on a green background, are the words Packed For; YADCO with the company's address immediately below.

The 2 Litre product is packed in a plastic container with a red screw top lid that has on it the word Yadco printed in red writing on a white background. The label is the same in appearance as that on the 1litre jar with the addition of a green palm tree and red palm fruit pictured to the right of the words Blue Bay. Immediately beneath the palm kernel, printed in white, in three different languages, are the words Uses; Stew and Soup.

To assist local authorities in correct identification of these products, a picture of each can be viewed using the link at the foot of this page.

Actions to be taken by local authorities
The product presents a health risk if consumed in sufficient quantity, and does not comply with the food safety requirements specified in the Food Safety Act 1990 due to contamination with Sudan IV. In addition, Sudan IV is not a permitted colour.

If any of this batch of product is found within their area, enforcement officers should ensure that it is withdrawn and destroyed, if necessary using powers under The Food Safety Act. As the company has not issued any press release or made the public aware of the recall, there remains the possibility that unused affected product is in consumers' homes. Local authorities in whose area the affected product is known to have been sold, are asked to consider providing local publicity on this issue at the next available opportunity.

It is essential that all non unitary authorities liaise at county level to ensure that they co-ordinate their actions.