Sign in to access your Salford customer account, or see our other accounts.

Sign in or register for an account

Illegal imported sweets and drinks warning!

The Chartered Institute of Trading Standards has issued a warning that imported sweets and fizzy drinks with known links to hyperactivity and cancer have flooded the UK.

Here in Salford we’re taking this very seriously and our Trading Standards team is confiscating illegal products from local shops. We’re also urging you not to buy these products for children.

What are the risks?

Some imported sweets and drinks contain additives and ingredients that are banned in the UK because they are linked to:

  • Hyperactivity
  • Behavioural problems
  • Cancer
  • Kidney and other organ damage
  • Heart problems
  • Making insulin response less effective
  • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, stomach cramps
  • Copper deficiency
  • Headaches dizziness
  • Nutrient deficiencies and reduced immune function 

What to look out for

Banned ingredients to look out for:

  • Brominated vegetable oil (BVO)
  • E127, Erythosine (shown on US products as Red 3)
  • Mineral oil – this carries the risk of contamination with other compounds, which in turn are capable of forming cancers
  • Bleached flour

The following additives can cause hyperactivity and behavioural problems in children. There should be a warning on the packaging to state this:

  • Sunset yellow FCF (E110)
  • Quinoline yellow (E104)
  • Carmoisine (E122)
  • Allura red (E129)
  • Tartrazine (E102)
  • Ponceau 4R (E124)

The following additives are allowed in food but not in drinks:

  • Calcium disodium EDTA (E385) – in animal studies it caused adverse reproductive and developmental effects in mice and has been shown to contribute to cancer of the colon
  • Erythorbic acid (E315)

We’re working hard to protect consumers by removing banned products from local shops and educating shopkeepers about the dangers. If you see a product with one of the banned ingredients please report it to us at trading.standards@salford.gov.uk   

Rate this page