Beijing continues to trace whereabouts of cancer-causing Sudan I colorant

Beijing will continue to trace the whereabouts of cancer-causing Sudan I colorant even after forbidding 25 kinds of food from being sold since the dye was discovered early this month in Meiweiyua-brand pepper sauce made by the Guangzhou-based Heinz Meiweiyuan Food Co. Ltd.

Beijing's food safety office announced Wednesday the municipal government had strengthened the screening process for food containing Sudan I in production and will conduct an overall checkup for products with excessive quantities of the additive.

Since the discovery, providers are required to seal up the goods containing the colorant in 24 hours, producers commanded to call back their products unconditionally, and restaurant runners requested to check their existing stock.

Meanwhile, a primary system to track dangerous food and an emergency-meeting mechanism for dealing with cases involving food safety has been set up in the city, the sources said.

Experts also tried to assuage the public by saying that there is a low probability of developing cancer in the event of consuming items with only a little Sudan I colorant.

So far, Sudan I colorant had been found in more than a dozen of provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country, including Guangdong, Guangxi, Henan, Jiangsu Hubei, Hebei, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Chongqing, Qinghai, Ningxia and Shanxi.