Pot luck when it comes to food safety?

UK - The discovery of the banned dye Sudan 1 in hundreds of products has led to the biggest food recall in British history. But just how safe are our shopping baskets? Chris Bond reports.

Salmonella in eggs, BSE in beef, antibiotics in chicken and now cancer-causing food dye in ready meals. Food scares are becoming all too common.

This, of course, isn't the first time we've experienced food scares. In 1988, the then junior health minister, Edwina Currie, was forced to resign after saying most of the UK's eggs were contaminated with salmonella.

Then in 1995 came the Bovine spongiform encephalytis, or BSE, which was linked to the horrific human disease Crezfeldt-Jackob disease (CJD).

The following year, British beef exports to Europe were banned and it was another three years before the ban was lifted.

Source: Yorkshire Post

25 February 2005