View Document - Parliament of South Africa

721 THURSDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2008
722
listing only the mentioned foodstuffs in
which erythrosine may be used as a
colourant is as a result of the Joint
FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
Additives (JECFA), in their safety
(2)
evaluation of erythrosine, had allocated
a very low Acceptable Daily Intake
(ADI) to erythosine. The ADI is defined
as the amount of a food additive that
can be ingested daily in the diet without
appreciable risk on the basis of all facts
known at the time. It is expressed as
milligram per kilogram bodyweight.
The ADI for erythrosine is 0,1 milligram
per kilogram bodyweight. This
means that an average person (taken as
60 kg) can maximally ingest 6 mg of
erythrosine per day. For a child the
maximum amount is even lower and a
child weighing for example, 15 kg
should not ingest erythrosine exceeding
1,5 mg per day, hence the reason why
the colourant is not permitted in foodstuffs
normally consumed by children.
Yes, the Department of Health became
aware of the situation regarding the
presence of the colourant E127
(erythrosine) in the product, Nesquick
strawberry milkshake manufactured by
the company Nestlé in South Africa,
through a notification received from the
European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA), after a consignment of the
product was rejected for importation by
the mentioned authority. The department
immediately followed up with the
manufacturer and it was established
that the company misinterpreted the
South African regulations related to
colourants permissible in foodstuffs.
The misinterpretation resulted from the
company claiming that they considered
sugar confectionery to include milk
shake powders, such as Nesquick.
This resulted in the illegal use of E127
in the product in question. To prevent
further misinterpretation in this regard,
the Department of Health will ensure
that a definition explaining clearly what
sugar confectionery is be included in
the relevant regulations published under
the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants
Act, Act 54 of 1972, in the
near future.
As a result of this contravention of the
Colourant Regulations, the department
instructed the company to institute an
industry recall up to and including
retail level in South Africa, of their
product containing E127. Nestlé confirmed
that the company’s withdrawal
instruction was issued on 29 July 2008
and by 1 August 2008 all shelves in
stores were cleared of the stock and
stored in their storerooms for return.
About 200 tons were produced from
week 17 (23 April 2008) up until week
30 (21 July 2008). On notification by
the Department of Health, all production
was immediately stopped. Approximately
117 tons of Nesquick
Strawberry was distributed to the trade
within this period. At the time of
completion of the withdrawal, 58 tons
were returned from the trade and destroyed
immediately upon return to the
warehouses. The balance of stock (approximately
250 tons), under the control
of Nestlé was blocked and
quarantined immediately at the distribution
centres and factory of the company
and arrangements have been made
for it to be destroyed by the end of
September 2008. The provincial and
local government health authorities
were informed of the recall and requested
to verify that the product had
indeed been removed from the shelves
within their areas of jurisdiction.
(3) No, the department considered the
steps taken by Nestlé as sufficient and
due to the low risk associated with the
consumption of foodstuffs containing
E127 in general, as well as that it is
permitted for use in certain foodstuffs,
was satisfied that the matter was final-