Importing guar gum and food containing guar gum from India

Thursday 15 May 2008

Consignments of guar gum (the thickening agent (E412)), and compound mixtures containing at least 10% guar gum originating in or consigned from India, and dispatched from India on or after 5 May 2008 must be accompanied by an original analytical report that states the consignment does not contain more than 0.01mg/kg of the manufactured chemical pentachlorophenol (PCP).

The report must be endorsed by the competent authority for the country in which the laboratory is based unless the laboratory is on a pre-approved list published by the Commission. See the pre-approved list on the Commission's website. If no report is present, the consignment will be detained until appropriate sampling and analysis is completed. This will be paid for by the food business operator responsible for the consignment. If the consignment is found to be contaminated then enforcement action will be taken.

Operators need also to be aware that a small proportion – approximately 5% – of consignments will be randomly sampled for official control.

For further information please contact:
David Mortimer
Agency's Incident Prevention & Chemical Risk Management Unit
tel: 020 7276 8731
email: david.mortimer@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk