Banned jelly sweets unearthed in UK

Six months after Europe voted in a permanent ban on the use of the food additive E425, otherwise known as konjac, in jelly confectionery, food safety agency finds these illegal products for sale in the UK.

During a recent routine check, trading standards officers found that a cash-and-carry store in Watford was selling ABC Mini Fruit Bites and Cocode Nut Jellies, both of which contain konjac, reports the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) this week.

The FSA immediately renewed its warning that children should not eat the mini fruit jelly sweets containing konjac, linked to several deaths from choking around the world.

According to a statement from the FSA the importer has since stopped trading and is no longer distributing these products from its premises in Manchester. But how widely these products may have been distributed is still unknown. The agency has asked local authorities across the UK to visit local shops to ensure that if any of these products are found, they are removed from sale.

In both products - manufactured by Tsang Lin Industries in Taiwan - the jelly is contained in a dome-shaped plastic cup, similar to a coffee creamer container, with a peel-off lid.

Regulatory bodies from Australia to the United States have banned mini-cup jelly products, traditionally manufactured in South-East Asia, that contain konjac. But the regulatory bodies have not banned konjac.