‘Cancer risk’ sweets banned in UK are still on sale here
Child health expert warns quick action is needed for immediate ban on Jolly Ranchers in Ireland
ONE of the country’s most authoritative child health advisors has called for an immediate ban on potentially cancer-causing sweets which are being sold in some stores here.
Professor Donal O’Shea, consultant endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine expressed dismay that Jolly Ranchers and other US-produced sweets are now being ‘preferentially poured’ into Ireland, despite having ingredients that are banned in the UK. Brightly packaged Jolly Ranchers are heavily advertised on Tik Tok and can be found at the check-outs in some service stations and retail stores across the country.
They contain a mandatory warning that some authorised ingredients [E129 and E102] ‘may have an adverse effect on activity and attention of children’, but they also contain mineral oil capable of forming cancers. E129 is already banned in six European countries due to the links to hyperactivity and allergies in children. UK authorities recently seized 3,378 items from shelves, including Jolly Ranchers, as mineral oil is an ‘unauthorised additive’, according to the UK Trading Standards. The seizures followed a BBC investigation into the US-imported sweets.
Professor O’Shea, who is also the HSE’s national clinical lead for obesity, told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The fact that these sweets are coming in in massive numbers to this country because they’re banned elsewhere is incredible.
‘It means we need to act very quickly, because there is credible evidence the additives and preservatives that are in these sweets are linked to cancer and to fertility issues in women and men.’
Dr O’Shea said it is incomprehensible that, despite the potential dangers of the imported sweets, they remain legal in this country.
He told the MoS: ‘Part of the problem is the colourings, part of the problem is the preservatives. There are genuine concerns about their links to chronic disease. The evidence is growing and credible about the link to disease in products that are preferentially flooding into the Irish market. We need to do something about this.’
While the sweets do contain a warning, the label covers some of the ingredients and has very small writing.
Professor O’Shea said the warnings are not effective: ‘The industry’s ability to delay clear food labelling is staggering. You need a degree in food science to understand the food label and you need a magnifying glass to read them.
‘They are just not clear. They’re designed to be confusing and to keep the information away from you. We need front of pack, clear labelling. But we also need to be able to ban chemicals that [potentially] cause cancer that are targeting our kids.
‘We have the safe food organisation, and we have the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. So, it is shocking that a product that is banned in other countries and somehow still legal here. Because they are banned in other countries, and therefore the stock is preferentially poured in here, they need to take a stance on this. I don’t understand why they are not banned here.’
In response to queries from the MoS, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said the issue in the UK was restricted to ‘specific batches of sweets’, and that there ‘is no evidence to date that those specific batches are on the market in Ireland’.
However, a photograph of a package forwarded by MoS clearly showed the presence of ‘mineral
‘Genuine concerns about links to chronic disease’
‘I don’t understand why they are not banned here’
oil’, which is banned in the UK. A statement from Trading Standards UK said: ‘It’s extremely worrying to learn that [sweets] we know will appeal to children are on sale in UK high streets, and that it could be linked to hyperactivity in kids, and even cancer. The increase in demand means... these are then being widely distributed and ending up in the hands of children.’
Manufacturers Hershey said their products are legally manufactured in the US and all ingredients comply with US law.