Carrefour Shanghai said yesterday that it has pulled a brand of pickled turnips from its shelves because it was found to contain Sudan I, an illegal food dye that can cause cancer.

The only local retailer to sell Tantanxiang pickled spicy turnips, it said it removed the product last Wednesday after receiving a notice from the manufacturer. It had been sold in Carrefour for months, a salesperson said yesterday.

The turnips were produced by Changsha Tantanxiang Flavoring and Food Co Ltd, based in Hunan Province. Carrefour said that chili power containing Sudan I was discovered by quality inspection authorities in Zhejiang Province on March 7.

The provincial bureau of commerce and industry then issued warnings against the use of related Heinz Guangzhou chili products, which used additives produced by Guangzhou Tianyang Food Co that were contaminated with Sudan I. Guangzhou Tianyang also supplied Changsha Tantanxiang.

"The problem exists in pickled turnips produced between December last year and January this year," a company official surnamed Peng told Shanghai Morning Post.

Late last month, Sudan I was found in hundreds of brands of foods in the UK, where the Food Standards Agency urged food manufacturers to withdraw their products and warned consumers not to eat them.

Yesterday, the Shanghai food and drug authority announced it would take samples from Carrefour Shanghai and conduct laboratory tests. Both the retailer and the Hunan manufacturer have promised a full recall of and reimbursement for the products.

Also on Monday, Carrefour Beijing withdrew the same brand of turnips from the shelves of all its six stores.

Monday also witnessed a mass cafeteria food poisoning in north China. Around 50 middle school students in Yongnian County in Hebei Province were diagnosed with nitrite poisoning, local authorities said.

The students from No.8 Middle School felt sick and experienced headaches and fever after breakfast. Thirty-two students with clear symptoms of food poisoning, including nine in a serious condition, were immediately hospitalized.

Sodium nitrite is a preservative and color fixative used in fish and meat products. An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.

(Shanghai Daily, China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2005)