Issued By Northumbria County Council

HIGH LEVELS OF CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN SOY SAUCES

A RECENT Food Standards Agency survey has identified high levels of the chemical 3 – Monochloropropane – 1,2 – diol (3 – MCPD) and 1,3 – Dichloropropanol  (1,3 – DCP) in certain batches of Soy Sauce on sale in shops.

The Food Standards Agency is taking action to remove from sale the batches of products with unacceptable levels of 3-MCPD and has today issued a Food Hazard Warning to local authorities alerting them to the batches.

The chemicals could cause harm if eaten over a long period of time and so the Agency advice to the public is to avoid the affected batches. Full details of the products, including pictures, can be found on the Agency's website www.food.gov.uk.

The products listed below were found to contain levels of 3 – MCPD and 1,3 – DCP which exceeded the legal limit. These contaminated products should be removed from use/sale immediately:

Product description/name: Supreme Low Salt Soy Sauce
Brand: Flower Brand
Pack/container size: 1 litre
Best Before Date: 15/03/2024
Batch number: Not declared
Country of Origin: Vietnam
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 0.027

Product description/name: Supreme Soy Sauce
Brand: Exotic Food
Pack/container size: 300ml
Best Before Date: End December 2004
Batch number: SC3500 TSSA 1348 PO.NO. C2001863
Country of Origin: Not declared
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 35.922
Sample result (1,3-DCP mg/kg): 0.017

Product description/name: Soy Sauce
Brand: Silver Swan
Pack/container size: 1000ml
Best Before Date: May 2004
Batch number: FR-1279 H02 0414
Country of Origin: Philippines
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 2.161

Product description/name: Kicap Manis
Brand: Adabi
Pack/container size: 340ml
Best Before Date: 20/11/04
Batch number: 1
Country of Origin: Not declared
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 0.13

Product description/name: Superior Light Soy Sauce
Brand: Hai Tian Brand
Pack/container size: 150ml
Best Before Date: 30/10/2023
Batch number: Not declared
Country of Origin: China
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 0.035

Product description/name: Soy Sauce
Brand: Marca Pina
Pack/container size: 640ml
Best Before Date: June 2004
Batch number: Not declared
Country of Origin: Philippines
Sample result (3-MCPD mg/kg): 0.085

For further information please contact Northumberland Trading Standards on: 01670 534585

Email: tradingstandards@northumberland.gov.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. 3-MCPD is a chemical formed at low levels in a variety of foods and food ingredients as a result of processing.

2. 1,3-DCP is a derivative of 3-MCPD and is thought to cause cancer in laboratory animals by damaging genes. It is possible but not certain that it would have the same effect on people as laboratory animals and so experts advise that it should not be present in food at any level.

3. The survey tested 99 different types of soy sauce sold in a variety of retail stores across the UK. Only six samples showed levels of 3-MCPD higher than the European legal limit. Of the six unacceptable samples, four had levels between one and seven times the legal limit. One showed levels 108 times the legal limit, while the sixth had levels almost 2000 times greater. This sixth sample also contained low levels of 1,3-DCP.

Further information is also available from:

Nic Outterside, Press Officer, Northumberland County Council

Tel: 01670 534251

Email: noutterside@northumberland.gov.uk