Contamination of Praise Palm Oil with Sudan IV dye

Monday 9 August 2004

Category C: For action as deemed necessary

Ref: 39/2004 (England) : D40/2004 - Category D (Scotland)

A number of Praise brand palm oils have been found to be contaminated with the illegal dye, Sudan IV. The Praise brand palm oils so far found to be contaminated are:

• Praise Brand Palm All - Regular Palm Oil
• Praise Brand Palm All - Pure Palm Oil (NGOPA)
• Praise Brand Zomi - Spiced Palm Oil
• Praise Brand Zomi - Palm Oil

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 products were manufactured in Ghana by:
Praise Products (otherwise known as Praise Export Services Limited),
PO Box GPO 1947,
Accra,
Ghana

and imported by:

Praise Foods Ltd,
360 Lea Bridge Road,
Leyton
E10 7LD

They have in turn supplied the products to the following companies:
Aduudi Enterprises Ltd,
1130 Green Lane,
Dagenham
RM8 1BP

Jumbo UK Ltd,
Unit 4A,
Golden House,
Waterden Road,
London
E15 2EE

Wanis Ltd,
Golden House,
Waterden Road,
London
E15 2EE

Most of the products have been sold directly to the public from Aduudi Enterprises Ltd, Jumbo UK Ltd and Wanis Ltd through their retail outlets but they have also distributed it to cash and carry stores and retail outlets mainly in London, but possibly elsewhere in England. The product has not been distributed to or within Scotland.

Identification of the products
All the above products are sold in plastic containers of the following sizes:

0.5 litres, 0.9 litres, 2.0 litres and 4.5 litres

The containers have plastic lids which may be blue, red, white or yellow in colour.

All batches of the above products tested so far have been found to be contaminated with Sudan IV.

Each container bears a paper label with the words ‘Praise’ or ‘Praise Brand’ and a picture of a blue stag inside a blue oval. The labels are predominantly yellow and red and bear a picture of two palm fruits. They also bear the name of the product, the volume, the ingredients and the words ‘specially recommended for stew, beans, okro & agusi soups’.

To assist local authorities in correct identification of these products, pictures of a variety of each product and size can be viewed from the links at the foot of this page.

Actions to be taken by local authorities
These products present a health risk if consumed in sufficient quantity, and do 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 these products are found within their area, enforcement officers should ensure that they are withdrawn from sale and destroyed, if necessary using powers under The Food Safety Act 1990. The companies involved have undertaken trade withdrawals and have displayed point of sale notices in their retail outlets, however the withdrawals have not been successful and there remains the possibility that unused affected product is in consumers' homes. Local authorities are therefore 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.