SHOPPERS in Somerset are being warned to check sweets for BANNED additives.

Heart of the South West Trading Standards has issued a warning over ‘American-style and imported sweets’ which are on sale across the county – despite not being approved.

The service said imported sweets not approved for sale in the UK “are becoming increasingly available in shops across the region”, containing additives that are illegal.

Experts have highlighted five additives consumers should look out for:
Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO)
E127, Erythrosine (also known as Red 3 which is allowed in cocktail cherries, but not sweets)
Mineral Oil/White Mineral Oil
Bleached Flour
Zinc Aspartate

The warning comes as Trading Standards looks to crackdown on the sale of banned products.

So far, the body says it has inspected “hundreds of products intended for non-UK food markets but are being sold in some shops”.

“Officers have carried out unannounced inspections of shops looking for non-compliant sweets, breakfast cereals, bakery goods, snacks and canned/carbonated drinks,” a spokesperson said.

“So far, they have identified and removed products from sale containing unauthorised additives or displaying non-compliant labelling.”

Additives are only authorised in the UK if they have been tested and proved to be safe for its intended use in that particular type of food or drink or if there is a justifiable technological need to use it.

A tell-tale sign if an imported product has not been approved in the UK can be seen on the label.

A US product that hasn’t been approved would list nutritional information as ‘Nutrition Facts’ and carry an American company name and address.

But if the product was legal for sale in the UK, it would list a UK subsidiary of that company and often include supplementary UK-compliant labelling placed over the original information in the form of a sticker.

Julie Richardson, lead food officer for Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service, said: “Increasingly we are seeing products banned in the UK on sale.

“If you see confectionary which you are unfamiliar with it may be imported so we advise you read label first to see if it contains one of the additives listed.

“We ask retailers to urgently remove items from sale that contain unauthorised ingredients.”