People are being asked to stop buying a range of American sweets that should never have been on shop shelves to begin with.
Businesses have been asked to recall fruit-flavoured hard candies and gummies by Jolly Rancher, which is owned by chocolate giant Hershey’s.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said they contain mineral oil hydrocarbons, which come from raw crude oil and other fossil fuels.
These oils – Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons, (MOAH) and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons, (MOSH) – make the products ‘unsafe to eat and not compliant with UK laws’.
The recalled products include:
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- Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
- Jolly Rancher ‘Misfits’ Gummies
- Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Fruity 2 in 1
- Jolly Ranchers Berry Gummies
The FSA said today: ‘For consumers, don’t buy them, and if you’ve eaten these products, there should be no immediate cause for concern, as food safety risk is low, but don’t eat any more.
‘These products contain mineral oil, which isn’t allowed in food in the UK and may pose a food safety risk if consumed regularly over a sustained period of time.’
No illnesses have been reported.
Mineral oil hydrocarbons sneak into food through a variety of means, such as via animal feed additives or machinery lubricants, according to the European Food Safety Authority.
MOAH can act as genotoxic carcinogens – substances that cause cell mutations, damage DNA and potentially increase the risk of cancer if enough is consumed over a long period.
MOSH has been known to accumulate in the liver, causing inflammation.
Food safety officials said that Hershey’s has been working to remove the sweets from the UK market, only for businesses to keep importing them.
So the agency has issued a ‘food alert for action’, a notice that asks the authorities to help get an item off the shelves for good.
Police and local authorities have been asked to ‘immediately’ contact businesses selling the sweets and get them to recall them.
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