Trick or treat? Illegal additives found in some Halloween sweets

Illegal sweets packed with additives that could harm children's health are being sold across the country, as ITV News' Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports

In the run-up to Halloween, people are being warned about illegal sweets packed with additives that could harm kids' health.

American confectionary which does not comply with UK legislation has been seized in several locations across the UK.

Experts say the products contain unauthorised additives - some linked with hyperactivity and “potentially cancer-causing chemicals”.

On Monday, Professor Robin May, the Food Standards Agency’s chief scientific advisor, told ITV News: “They may contain additives that are either not permitted at all in the UK or are permitted but at much lower levels.

"There’s not a short-term risk but over the long term if you continue to consume these there might be a health risk which includes things like potential cancer-causing chemicals."

Professor Robin May said the sweets may contain additives that are "not permitted" in the UK or are permitted but at "much lower levels". Credit: ITV News

Some of the sweet brands involved have perfectly legal versions sold in the UK - but the ones being seized are different because they contain ingredients banned in this country. Officials say the American manufacturers never intended them to be sold here.

These are the banned ingredients Halloween shoppers should beware of in American imports:

  • Brominated Vegetable oil (BVO)

  • E127, Erythrosine known as Red 3

  • Mineral Oil

  • Bleached Flour

And these additives can only be used if there’s a hyperactivity warning:

  • Sunset yellow FCF (E110)

  • Quinoline yellow (E104)

  • Carmoisine (E122)

  • Allura red (E129)

  • Tartrazine (E102) - Yellow 5

  • Ponceau 4R (E124)

ITV News has been told that thousands of these sweets have been seized. Credit: ITV News

Anyone who has already eaten sweets with these banned ingredients is advised not to panic over short-term exposure but to avoid it in future.

ITV News has spoken to environmental health officers and Trading Standards professionals and has been told that thousands of these sweets have been seized.

When we looked at a sample of shops specialising in American confectionary we found examples of products containing the banned substances.

Sweets have become part of the Halloween tradition - but some are scarier than others.

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