SWEETS containing banned additives are increasingly being sold across the region, Devon County Council have said.

The council is reminding consumers who buy American-style and imported sweets to check the label to ensure that they do not contain banned additives.

Devon County Council’s trading standards service says that imported sweets that have not been approved for sale are becoming increasingly available in shops across Devon.

They have highlighted five additives in particular that consumers should look out for which are legal in the US, but are not permitted in the UK.

These are: Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO); E127, Erythrosine (also known as Red 3 which is allowed in cocktail cherries, but not sweets.); Mineral Oil/White Mineral Oil; Bleached Flour and Zinc Aspartate.

DCC’s warning follows ongoing work by trading standards, who have so far inspected hundreds of products intended for non-UK food markets, but are being sold in some shops, nevertheless.

Officers have carried out unannounced inspections of shops looking for non-compliant sweets, breakfast cereals, bakery goods, snacks and canned and/or carbonated drinks.

So far, they have identified and removed products from sale containing unauthorised additives or displaying non-compliant labelling.

Additives are only authorised in the UK if they have been tested and proved to be safe for its intended use in that particular type of food or drink or if there is a justifiable technological need to use it.

A tell-tale sign if an imported product has not been approved in the UK can be seen on the label.

For instance, a US product that hasn’t been approved would list nutritional information as ‘Nutrition Facts’ and carry an American company name and address.

If the product was legal for sale in the UK, it would list a UK subsidiary of that company and often would include supplementary UK-compliant labelling placed over the original information in the form of a sticker.