 Traces of the dye have been found in more than 400 products |
By lunchtime today, the food industry is expected to have produced a final list of products contaminated with the illegal red dye Sudan 1.
It's commonly used to colour shoe polish and other products. But it's not licensed for use in food, because it's been found to cause cancer in rats.
Despite that, Sudan 1 founds its way into one batch of chilli powder - and sparked the UK's biggest food scare.
Premium range ready meals and pot noodles are just some of the 420 food items that have been withdrawn from sale over the past week.
Shops could face prosecution if they're found selling them after lunchtime today.
This morning, Breakfast asked whether the scare is a wake-up call to us all to go back to basics with our food
Our reporter Mike Sergeant has traced the contaminated chilli powder back to its source, to find out how it found its way into so many other products.
We debated the issues with award-winning chef Rowley Leigh and Sian Harrington, who's deputy editor of The Grocer magazine. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said on Wednesday that all products containing the contaminated chilli must be removed from the food chain by Thursday morning.
It says the responsibility lies with the supplier of the ingredients tainted by Sudan 1 to make sure it lets shops, supermarkets and catering companies know - in fact they have a legal obligation to do so.
Local Authorities will then be able to make checks to ensure the contaminated ingredients have been removed.
For the most up to date information on which products are being withdrawn from the food chain see the Food Standards Agency website:
Consumers are able to check for themselves what products, and the outlets selling them have been withdrawn there is a full list from the FSA website, but it now involves more than 400 individual items in all the major supermarket chains.
This list was updated as recently as Wednesday, but the FSA is keen to stress there is no risk of immediate illness and the health risk generally is likely to be very small from ingredients tainted with Sudan 1.
Sauce
The problem has been further complicated because the Sudan 1 contaminated chilli was used to make Crosse and Blackwell Worcester Sauce, itself then added to several other products.
The makers of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, who say they hold 90% of the market says its products have not been contaminated.
The company says it uses chilli essence and its sauces are perfectly safe.
Risk
The FSA's website says: "Sudan I can contribute to an increased risk of cancer but at the levels present the risk is likely to be very small.
"There is no risk of immediate ill health but it is sensible to avoid eating any more."
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Just how dangerous is this Sudan 1? We are told that the risks are minimal, yet the food industry is clearing its shelves at a cost of millions
