£6,000 haul of illegal US sweets and drinks

THOUSANDS of pounds of illegal American candy, pickles and drinks have been removed from sale from shops across Newcastle.

- ADAM FOSTER Reporter [e-mail]

Environmental health officers visited 30 premises and removed nearly 4,500 individual items with a street value of approximately £6,000 from small retail shops and wholesalers.

Many of the brightly coloured sweets and drinks imported from the United States are not compliant with UK food law and can damage consumers' health.

Increasing amounts of these illicit American products are being seized by enforcement officers. They are not to be confused with candy products that are UK compliant and sold legitimately by supermarkets and other law-abiding retailers.

The Newcastle haul largely consisted of Jolly Ranchers and Lemonheads (containing mineral oil) and Starry, Kool Aid, Mountain Dew, Mirinda orange and Sunny D, which all contain Calcium Disodium EDTA.

There were approximately 5,000 cans and bottles of pop.