Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has ordered retail outlets to remove four popular Japanese snack foods from the shelves on fears they contain an unapproved sweetener which has been linked to cancer.
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The country’s Food and Environmental Health Department said the products had already been recalled in Singapore after laboratories there discovered they contained a sugar substitute, stevioside, which has not been approved for consumption in Singapore or Hong Kong.
The products involved in the recall are: Nissin UFO Oomori Yaki Soba Instant Noodles, Nissin Tatsujin Tonkatsu Ramen Instant Noodles, Kiku Prawn Crackers and Glico snacks, the department said in a statement released late yesterday [Tuesday].
Sales of the popular chocolate and strawberry flavoured Glico Pocky biscuit sticks also were ordered suspended even though only one of its products – Glico Milk Roast Pretz – was found by Singapore to contain the additive, reported Reuters.
Stevioside has been approved as a food additive in Japan, but it has not been given international endorsement. In the US, it may be sold as a dietary supplement.
