Sudan ; Way beyond palm oil
Sudan dyes are red dyes that are used to colour textiles, rubber, plastics, solvents, oils, waxes, petrol/gasoline, shoe and floor polishes. The dyes are known to cause cancer in laboratory animals and have been classified as carcinogens.
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While not settled, the majority opinion seems to suggest that the dyes pose a potential risk to human health. The use of Sudan Dyes in foods is banned in many countries. Notwithstanding the ban, the dyes are still found in many foods. The dyes are used to enhance and maintain the colour of food products, partly because they are cheap and they yield colouring results that are pleasing to consumers.
On or around August 13, 2015, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in Ghana announced that it had begun investigations into reports that a Ghanaian palm oil product exported to the United Kingdom (UK) contained Sudan Dye IV. In October this year, the FDA issued a warning about the presence of Sudan dye in palm oil being sold in Ghana and mounted an intensive market surveillance to remove any such product from the market place. The exercise is still going on.
Many warnings
The warning by the FDA about the presence of Sudan dye in palm oil did not come as a surprise; the surprise was how long it took to issue it. With respect to foods in general, Sudan dye contamination is nothing new. Sudan dye was first detected in food in France in May 2003. In the United Kingdom (UK), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued its first Sudan dye-related alert and product recall in July 2003. In respect of palm oil from Ghana, in early 2005 and for many months thereafter, the persistent presence of Sudan dyes in palm oil caused the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to issue product warnings, health alerts and recalls.
In 2005, the European Commission was in Ghana to assess the systems in place to control Sudan dye adulteration of palm oil, and submitted a report. On April 22 this year, the FSA issued a consumer alert against the consumption of palm oil from Ghana. The question is why in August 2015, in many instances a decade after the fact, is the FDA still issuing warnings about the same problem?
Other contaminated products
Currently the focus of the FDA is on palm oil. However, Sudan dyes have been found in many other food products beyond palm oil, and in many other countries. For example, in February 2005, the dyes were detected in close to 500 foods, resulting in warnings, alerts and recalls in Canada and the UK. The contaminated foods included brands of Worcestershire/Worcester sauces, and fast-food dressings, potato chips, soups and other prepared foods, all of which were manufactured with the contaminated Worcestershire/Worcester sauces.
In the same year, the dyes were detected in red chili peppers and chili-flavoured chips, some imported from Pakistan, Lebanon and Thailand, and some brands of curry powder. In November 2006, Sudan dye was detected in duck feeds in China – in order to enhance the colour of egg yolks; the dyes were also detected in some duck and hen egg samples.
It is not only Sudan dyes that are problematic. In 2013 some food items, including shrimp paste, in the Philippines were found to contain a non-permissible colourant called Rhodamine B. In Ghana, food scientists have confirmed that food items and processed products, including groundnut paste, fish, chili pepper and tomato powder, are contaminated, albeit probably not by Sudan dyes.
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Some of the data available for this article are old. I also do not want to imply that the products that formed the basis of the prior warnings, alerts and recall in the countries identified are still on the market. However, the recent Sudan dye contamination of palm oil in Ghana and in the UK is a clear indication that the presence of non-permissible dyes in foods still exists and poses a risk to human health. For Ghana in particular, this situation is poignant, not only in relation to palm oil, but also the country now imports massive amounts of manufactured food products from all corners of the world.
Vigilance
This calls for vigilance, and allocation and acceptance of responsibility. Food safety is a split responsibility – industry, FDA and consumers. Food producers, marketers and importers are primarily responsible for producing and marketing safe foods.
The FDA, as the regulator, is responsible for applying rigorous standards and strictly enforcing food safety laws. In this regard, the FDA must be given robust statutory authority to discharge its mandate and be adequately resourced, for example, with money, qualified and well-paid personnel, technology, and laboratory facilities. Consumers must bring to the attention of the FDA problems they may observe at the market place. .