The Food Standards Agency has issued an alert after it was informed that some batches of the seasoning mix in Old El Paso Dinner Kits have been contaminated with an illegal chemical dye, Para Red.
 
The manufacturer, General Mills, has withdrawn the affected batches. Para Red is chemically very similar to Sudan I, the agency said. The agency’s independent scientific experts have advised that, although there is very limited data available, it would be prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen.


The agency is therefore taking the precaution of advising people not to eat any of the contaminated food.


The agency also issued an alert about two palm oils which had been found to be contaminated with the illegal dye Sudan IV. The oils are Abesco Foods Pure Zomi Oil and Nana Adebi Pure Palm Oil.