UK: AG Barr resists FSA pressure on artificial colourings

Soft drinks group AG Barr has said it has no immediate plans to sign up to the Food Standards Agency's voluntary ban on artificial colourings linked to hyperactivity in children.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) this week published a list of companies and retailers that have informed the agency of their action to remove the six colourings from products.

Ministers backed a voluntary ban on the colourings last autumn, a year after researchers warned that a combination of the additives could raise the risk of hyperactivity in children.

Several food and drink companies continue to use one or more of the colourings, however, and the FSA's stance has been rejected by some trade bodies, including the British Soft Drinks Association.

AG Barr, one of the UK's largest soft drinks producers, still uses two of the colourings, sunset yellow and ponceau 4R, in Irn-Bru.

A spokesperson for AG Barr told just-drinks today (3 February): "We are aware of the guidance issued by the FSA on the use of artificial colours by the food industry, and the implications of this guidance are an ongoing consideration.

"In relation to IRN-BRU, all of the product's ingredients have always been, and remain, in full accordance with UK and EU rules and legislation relating to food additives and colouring."

All six of the colourings included in the FSA's voluntary ban are approved for use across the EU. The colourings are: sunset yellow FCF (E110); quinoline yellow (E104); carmoisine (E122); allura red (E129); tartrazine (E102); ponceau 4R (E124).