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Since 1 May 2004, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, which is the national contact point for Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), has received 8 notifications concerning the presence of the dye SUDAN in the Czech Republic. So far, all notifications have been investigated by the CAFIA, except for one investigated by the State Veterinary Administration. On the contrary, the Czech national contact point sent to Brussels two notifications concerning SUDAN, identified by the CAFIA.

So far, no direct threat to consumers has emerged both from notifications received and from investigations carried out on their basis. In the majority of cases, foodstuffs contaminated with this unauthorised dye had been withdrawn before they reached the market or concentration of SUDAN in the final product was so low that it practically did not pose a risk to consumers.

The synthetic dyes SUDAN I – IV that are intended to be used in industry, for example in the production of floor or shoe polishes, are used in some third countries to colour spices and some other foodstuffs that are thus being adulterated. The European Commission has banned to use these colouring agents in food production and has tightened the conditions for imports of some foodstuffs.

Apart from SUDAN, the European Commission strictly monitors dyes Rhodamine B, Orange II, Para-red and Bixin. The CAFIA laboratory in Prague has developed a method for detecting the content of all these dyes in foodstuffs. The method for ascertaining dyes SUDAN I – IV has already been accredited; the accreditation of other methods is being prepared.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority pays close attention to the inspection of unauthorised dyes in foodstuffs. Nowadays, it prepares comprehensive ad-hoc inspection of their presence in spices and certain kinds of foodstuffs.