Sudan 1 taught us all lessons, says FSA

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has admitted that it needs to learn lessons from the way it handled the Sudan 1 contamination recalls in 2005, which cost the food industry more than £100M.

At last month's board meeting, chief executive John Harwood said an inquiry had been set up and the FSA was consulting widely with manufacturers about their experiences. FSA chair Deirdre Hutton added that she had met the chief executive of Premier Foods, which had been particularly badly hit.

Harwood said that the role and actions of regulatory bodies would be examined as part of the inquiry, together with that of industry, so that both could learn from it.

A new FSA-funded study by local authorities checking imported foods for illegal dyes, including Sudan 1 to IV, Para Red, Rhodamine B, Orange II, Red G, Butter Yellow and Mentanil Yellow, showed most complied with the law.