OT - Food Dye

Jumanji_2

Not sure if I am allowed to post this here, but as I'm sure you're aware about 450 products were taken off the shelfs because of Sudan dye.

Well Beef and Tomato Pop Noodles were one of these products. My partner and I did not know about this, and on Sunday, we went into our local co-op, and saw that there weren't any on the shelf, so we asked a young woman who worked ther, and she went out the back and brought us 6 out. My partner has just found out these Pop Noodles were taken off the shelf, and I'm a bit worried about him eating them. I want to take them back, but by the time he's home from work it will be Friday evening, so we won't be able to take them back until Saturday which is nearly a week, and we don't have a receipt.

Does he have anything to worry about, should he eat them? Do you think we would be able to take them back?

nearlyrich

First of all I wouldn't worry too much about eating the odd pot noodle as it appears that we have all been eating this dye upto recently when they decided it was dangerous. You should be OK to take them back to the shop even without the receipt, I looked through all my cupboards and planned to take anything back to Tesco if I found anything fortunately I didn't.

There was a letter in the paper today which said the supermarkets are recalling food which has a small chance of causing cancer whilst doing a roaring trade in cigarettes, makes you think.

I think there is a lot to be said for cooking from scratch when you see the lists of foods that have been affected.

Jumanji_2

We've been eating it for a while?? That's scary.

Thank you very much for making me feel better! To be honest I'm the worlds worst cook (I once "stewed" carrots when I was trying to warm them up!). I'm still trying to get "bangers and mash" right!!

sarah1

Hi Jumanji,
How many people keep every supermarket till receipt ?????
God, i could fill my wheelie bin with this months alone.
And now they've just decided that they're only going to empty that once a fortnight but that's another story.
Good Luck, If they won't have them back ask them if they are deliberatly trying to poison you and threaten them with the free papers.
:-)

nearlyrich

I mainly use Delia Smith recipes, it's not cordon bleu but at least my lot eat it LOL, basic stuff like how long to roast meat, foolproof pastry and lumpfree gravy which used to be a problem for me. I have been off work for the last few weeks and I have been doing more cooking from scratch, rather than relying on jars and packets for curries etc and to be honest if you look at how long it takes it is sometimes quicker to do than heat up ready meals, certainly tastes better and is much better for you.

Queenie

Welcome to the boards, Jumanji (I lurve that film!!!)

First, do write to that Co-Op, not to complain per sa, but, to highlight a "training need" for the female who went out back to acquire some PN's for you! (Bless her, she probably thought she was doing you a favour w/out realising why they were all out back in the first place. Hence the "training need"; clearly Management hadn't thought to give the staff "The Talk", or, if they had, she wasn't giving it her full attention)

Secondly, don't eat them; take them back, do not concern yourself about the receipt. They should be able to trace the batch numbers because, ultimately, they will claim back the costs from their own suppliers so they will not lose out.

Next, should you worry? Well, if you ingest ready meals on a regular basis, bearing in mind all the E numbers and other rubbish thrown in, I wouldn't get your knickers in a twist but put it down to experience. You are more likely to have inhaled more cancerous fumes from petrol/fags than your intake from PN's!

Next: "The Worlds Worst Cook" does not exist; well, except in the minds of those who have a closed mind - which, very clearly, you are not one of them Trot your wee mouse over to the MoneySaving Old Style forums here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?s=&daysprune=&f=33 you will find a very helpful (if a bit whacky, amusing and sometimes almost obsessive <

---

spoken with a sense of endearment) group who post wondeful tips/advice/recipes who are more than willing for the sake of home economics, health and happiness, to share their wisdom.
Menu planning, laundry advice, cleaning routines, recipes, how to urinate to obtain perfect "whites", are just the tip of the iceburg

While I do think that "convenience" foods are a wonderful aid for emergency planning, reliance on them is not only foolhardy, but also harmful to health, regardless of the Sudan I dye! Cooking from scratch is not quite as time consuming as it may seem; it's very like budgeting. Once you get the basics down it's as easy peasy as posting on a forum With a touch of forward planning, a freezer and a good dollop of courage and sense of humour, the time it takes you to shop for, mull over flavour of, cart home and boil kettle (lets not forget "waiting time" to stew) a PN - you could have had a hearty fresh stir fry; reheated a homely casserole and dumplings; eaten DOUBLE what they contain in a mere salad or even made a stove cooked rice pudding (plus had a bath while waiting!).

Looking forward to seeing you over there

ReductionQueen

Yes, it seems that we have been eating this stuff for months, and even if you cook your own food it's in a form of chilli powder which you may use as a basic ingredient. Given how many things the powers that be say are dangerous to us, I don't think that we would all survive for long if we avoided every single thing that was said to be bad for us. I only wish they would just give away the stuff, I would fill up a carrier bag or two!
I speak as on who used to cheerfully cut up fabric for industrial gloves that was made from WHITE asbestos, having been told it's OK, only BLUE asbestos is dangerous! No resperator required................

Trow

Months? Its longer than that. It was only banned in the UK in June 2003 (ish) and the batch that has been used has been in the country since before the ban.

We have probably been eating it since we were kids. I can't see that 6 pot noodles will make a big difference now....

Debt_Free_Chick

Lets dispel a few myths here.

The affected products are very specific. Certain products with certain sell by/use by/best before dates. The definitive list is here

http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/sudani/sudanlist

You do NOT need the till receipt. You just return the goods to the store (any store if branded) and you will get a refund.

The "nasty" is a dye Sudan1, which is apparently carcinogenic. However, the amounts found in the products are so small that, alone, they are unlikely to be harmful. However, if your diet consists only of the products on this list, you might want to think about it a bit

Sudan1 has been banned for use in the UK since 2002. Sudan1 was contained in a stock of chilli powder held by Premier Foods. They used this old stock to make a batch of Worcester Sauce (nothing to do with Lea & Perrins) and then used that sauce to make the products listed. Hence, the list should be regarded as accurate, as they know what they made, when and which sell by dates the products carried.

More worrying, IMO, is that Premier Foods were using 3 year old chilli powder. It can't have been of good quality - not "dangerous" - but surely not a quality ingredient. I don't think many of us would expect one of the country's largest food producers to use old ingredients. What other old ingredients did they use?

And why didn't Premier Foods realise that 3 year old chilli powder pre-dated the Sudan1 ban?

And why don't the Supermarkets demand higher standards of their suppliers? If you know about the demands made on the UK dairy & farming industries you'd be staggered that the supermarkets seem to police suppliers like Premier Foods in such a slack manner.

The answer, of course, is profit. We are all being sold cheap junk at an over-inflated price to line the pockets of the fat cats. If you want to eat it, go ahead. But in addition to any Sudan1 risk, bear in mind the crazy levels of fat, salt & sugar that these products contain too.

There was an excellent article about this issue on yesterday's edition of You & Yours which you can hear again on the BBC website (Radio 4).

Enjoy your meal - would ya like fries with that?

trace-j

I know Morrisons were taking affected products back regardless of whether the customer had a receipt;)