A sad indignity has befallen the Old El Paso company, owned by the good folks of General Mills.

A variety of Old El Paso products were removed from the shelves in the UK and elsewhere, after they were reported to have contained trace amounts of the Para Red dye.

A full report from the UK Food Standards Agency can be read here

Just last month, the UK was hit with a rash of food recalls after products were found to contain Sudan 1. Sudan 1, another dye, was discovered to cause cancer in mice by a German scientist in the early 1900’s. Indeed, the FDA banned the substance in food not long after.

When will this complete nonsense stop? We, as consumers, do NOT want to have our food dyed with the same chemical used to make shoe polishes, car waxes, textile colorants, and paint. The whole thing is in a viscous circle. We, as consumers, are drawn to bright colours in spices and foods. Indian curries, are notorious for adding colorants to make their Chicken Tikki Masala more vibrant looking. Food producers are not blind to this, so paprika, chili powder, and other spices are made to look brighter as well. Then we, the dumb consumer, turn our backs on the real thing in favour of these new colourful alternatives.

It just keeps going round and round.

The thing that makes it difficult for me is I rely heavily on these sorts of spices in my cooking. If I make chilli, fajita�s or Texas BBQ, I need these spices for the seasoning and the kick. But how the hell am I supposed to trust any spice vendor from now on? Sudan 1 or Para Red are not the sort of ingredients that make it onto the back of the bottle.

The critics, of which there are many, claim that the health risks for these sorts of dyes is either unknown or limited at best. One such columnist proclaimed to get cancer you needed to drink a half bottle of Worchester sauce every day for 6 months. But tell me this, if drinking a litre of Coke every day for 6 months would almost definitely give you cancer, would you feel safe about drinking Coke at all? Of course note.

The spices affected (not including the recall of whole products), include:

Chili Powder
Paprika
Turmeric
Cayenne Pepper
Sumac

I guess I can either enjoy bland food, or have the potential of getting cancer. Christ, if I face those sort of choices I might as well start smoking again.