Bermuda is one of a host of countries at the centre of an international food safety alert following an announcement that nearly 360 imported foodstuffs have been contaminated by a carcinogenic dye.

Britain?s Food Standards Agency said on Friday that the Worcestershire Sauce distributed by UK exporter Premier Foods, which is also used to flavour hundreds of fresh and frozen foods including pies, sandwiches, sausages and soups, contains the dye Sudan 1, a product generally used for colouring oils, waxes, petrol and shoe polish.

The countries affected include Bermuda, the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Holland, Austria, Cyprus, Belgium, Malta, Austria, Grenada, the Bahamas and Antigua.

Italian authorities uncovered the problem during a routine inspection of the imported British produce last week, prompting the BFSA to issue a global warning.

BFSA chief executive Jon Bell said Sudan 1 does ?contribute towards an increased risk of cancer? ? although he stressed the level of risk was ?very small?.

However, he cautioned against eating any more of the products listed on their website www.food.gov.uk/sudanlist.

Contacted by last night, the Ministry of Health?s Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann said he had not yet been informed of the alert, but would be dealing with the issue during the course of today.

?I shall certainly look into it and if we do have a problem, the normal procedure would be to contact local distributors and get the products off the shelves as quickly as possible,? he said.