E numbers still rife in hundreds of foodstuffs

Published on Saturday 8 March 2008 23:34

ADDITIVES linked to hyperactivity in children are used as ingredients in hundreds of products, campaigners warned last night.

The Food Commission has listed 1,000 food, drink and medicine items containing one or more of the seven E numbers on an online database.

But the independent watchdog said it fears the six colourings and one preservative could be in thousands more sweets, snacks, drinks and medicines on the shelves.

The Food Commission's Action on Additives campaign co-ordinator, Anna Glayzer, said: "One thousand products seems like a lot, but we believe there are hundreds, if not thousands, more products for sale in the UK that contain these additives."

A total of 300 different manufacturers appear on the database, including 37 products from Cadbury confectioners, closely followed by the baked goods company KCB Group with 30 and Woolworths, which has 23.

The Food Standards Agency has not banned the food additives but has asked the European Food Safety Authority to review the evidence of links between combinations of the E numbers and increased hyperactivity in children.

The agency also advises parents that, by law, food additives must be listed on the label so they can make the choice to avoid the product if they want, but Glayzer questioned this approach.

"Our findings show that this advice is very difficult to follow," she said. "Labels on the products were hard to read and inconsistent, with additives listed sometimes by name, sometimes by E number."

Miss Glayzer said the Food Commission had written to the 77 manufacturers whose products were added to the database first. The majority of the 26 who replied said they were in the process of reformulating their products, she said.