Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office found Sudan I, a carcinogenic food coloring, on Friday in food served at a KFC outlet in the city's Chaoyang District, they announced on Saturday.

The banned dye was found in spice pickle powder, used in three KFC foods: spiced drumsticks, spiced chicken wings and popcorn chicken, the office said.

The Food Safety Office and the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Department have asked KFC to suspend sale of the products, and they will only be sold again once they pass inspections.

According to Zhu Dayu, an executive of Yum (the parent company of KFC), one of their suppliers, the Zhongshan-based Griffith Food Company, found in its records that Sudan I-tainted spice powder provided by Hongfang Flavor (Kunshan) Co., Ltd was used in sauces for some KFC products before January 12.

Griffith issued statements last Friday saying that they had recalled their affected products.

Zhu said that the company had always asked for food certificates from suppliers, but problems in the upstream suppliers had not been discovered.

He said the company has raised requirements for all suppliers, who must now provide analysis certificates to ensure the safety of their products.

Last Wednesday, KFC removed New Orleans wings and drumstick burgers from the menu at more than 1,000 Chinese outlets, and destroyed all tainted products, after discovering a supplier had used the Sudan I dye in ingredients.

The Hefei Municipal Food Safety Department in east China's Anhui Province also checked KFC outlets, and seven were also forbidden to sell foods found to be tainted with Sudan I.

Sudan I, an industrial dye used in petrol and shoe polish but banned in food, triggered a food scare across much of Europe last month.

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) first entered China in 1987, one of the first western fast food chains to do so. It now has 1,200 outlets in 260 cities across the country.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2005)