Food safety

Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat  health spokesman, said:  This is sound advice from the Food Standards Agency, and people need to be reassured of the low risk to health posed in this case.

"It is important, however, that this information is widely publicised and that people are clear on which foods they need to avoid."

Dr Jon BellFood, Standards Agency chief executive, said: "The list of products will continue to be updated and put in the public domain. There is no risk of immediate illness and the health risk generally is likely to be very small. But if you have any of these products at home it's sensible not to eat them.

"The food companies involved are legally responsible for notifying us, removing the affected products and informing consumers. We expect remaining product information to be provided immediately although, given the scale and complexity of the problem, it is likely to take until Thursday to pull all that together.

"However, we expect food businesses to remove any remaining affected products as soon as they can. This is a very large scale operation involving hundreds of companies.

"The health risk is very small but it is important that consumers have accurate information as many products have already been reformulated."

Sarah Winterton, director of public affairs at the BRC, said: "Retailers have been made aware of the possible low level contamination of Sudan I, a non-approved dye. The contamination has been found to relate to an ingredient of a sauce used to manufacture a number of own label and branded products.

"Due to the low level of the dye, the FSA has advised that there is no immediate risk to health. However, as a precautionary measure, all products that may have been affected have been withdrawn from retailers' shelves. Any further products identified will also be removed from shelves immediately.