Toxic guar gum imports being tested in Hungary

Tests of the potentially toxic food additive guar gum, or E412, will not produce results until Thursday, chief veterinarian Miklós Süth told a Monday press conference. In the meantime, consumers are advised not to purchase products containing E412, as they may be tainted with dioxin.

Guar gum containing unsafe levels of the chemical dioxin imported from India was distributed in Europe by Swiss company Unipectin, EU officials announced last week. So far 22 cases have been found in the EU, Süth said. It is not known how the guar gum became potentially toxic at Indian company Glycols, which produces chemicals.

In Hungary about 100 of the 200,000 companies concerned have sent test samples to the two EU-accredited laboratories in Hungary since Saturday. Companies failing to obey regulations can be fined Ft 3 million Süth underlined. Each test costs Ft 440,000 per sample, to be paid by the companies sending it. Companies reporting the use of guar gum by yesterday evening include hypermarket chain Metro, soft drink maker Coca-Cola, Danone dairy and pastry retail franchise Fornetti.

The Public Health and Medical Officers laboratories will be unified within the Food Chain Security Organisation from October 1 to increase the efficiency of checks, Süth said. The Food Security Office has been operating under the Agriculture Ministry since July 1, Süth added.

The sale of dioxin-polluted food is a logical consequence of weakening the consumer protection institutes, Fidesz politician László Koszorús said.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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