URGENT...read this b4 u give ur kiddies sweets

[monstersmummy]

saw this on the fsa website this morning good job i looked as we have some and i don't read or recieve newspapers

Glad I put them back on the shelf the other day.

OMG - did you see the one on the warning on the same site for fragments of glass & sewing needles found in Kingsmill bread!!

see here

Good thread!

Don't give your kids the sweets with animal hair, nails, ground bones and skin in them either.

Oh my goodness - I just packed some milky babies in my hospital bag! Will take them out now!

bump

Just out of interest - would any of you knowingly give your kids:

a) sweets or indeed any food with animal hair, bones, hooves etc in it?

b) mashed up beetles?

This is a serious question btw - would you?

No, but my kids don't have any sweets as too young. Very occasionally DD1 has a few chocolate buttons.

what's the animal hair & bones thing? I'm guessing the mashed up beetles is in food colouring?

Yes the crushed beetles is food colouring used in red smarties, red m&m's - that sort of thing.

The hair/bones/hooves thing is what gelatine is made up of and is used in jelly type sweets such as Haribo and the penny sweets that our PTA sells. Of course gelatine is used in lots of other foods too, not just sweets.

It's a vegetarian's nightmare, I can tell you.

in some countries beetles are a delicacy though

Runs off to town before she gets jumped on

Yuk. Those look nasty even before they were found to have rankness in them.

My kids are strict veggies (their choice, I'm a meat lover). They always check sweets and desserts and won't touch them if they've got gelatine or crushed beetles in them! Mind you, even as an avid meat eater, I avoid these things too now - sounds disgusting doesn't it?

We're not veggie here, but around 90% of our food is organic, so the only beetles found in our food (hopefully there are none) would be ones that had been missed when the vegs are washed!! (I just get weekly shopping from Abel & Cole)

The glass and sewing needles found in Kingsmill is however a little worrying as I do occasionally buy Kingsmill if we run out of bread.

the beetles are cochineal the red food colouring you use all the time (if you use red colouring that is)
I told ds about gelatine today as he wanted jelly and I told him why, might direct him to the link now

Gross!
Thank God Lottie doesn't eat sweets.
Nothing like that found in yoghurt coated dried apricots is there?

we had a thing with broken glass in baby food jars years ago in belgium. must be the worst recall i've heard off.

Am I the only person who can't get through to the site linked below?

Pasted below for you Blu:
Bassett?s Milky Babies recalled
Wednesday, 05 October 2005
Bassett?s has recalled all of its Milky Babies confectionery range. The Food Standards Agency has issued a Food Alert for Information.

The sweets are being withdrawn because of small pieces of plastic being found in some packs. They are thought to be a result of a fault in the manufacturing process, which has since been rectified. The possible presence of this plastic could cause the product to be a choking hazard.
The product recalled is:
Bassett?s Milky Babies, pack sizes 165g and 200g
All batch and date codes

No other Bassett?s products are known to be affected.

Bassett?s has undertaken a product recall of the affected item and product recall notices will appear in the national press today. In addition, point-of-sale notices will be displayed in cash and carry outlets to notify the public of the recall. The notice advises consumers of the reason for the recall and the actions they should take if they have already purchased the affected product.

Bassett?s has provided a consumer helpline, which is: 0800 818181.

...and the one re: glass & needles in bread:

Allied Bakeries reports deliberate contamination
Wednesday, 14 September 2005
The FSA is urging consumers to be vigilant about the risk of foreign objects being found in Kingsmill sliced bread produced by Allied Bakeries at its Orpington bakery in Kent.

This is because the FSA has been informed by Allied Bakeries that it is investigating a number of consumer complaints relating to a variety of foreign objects found in bread produced at this bakery.
In recent weeks, Allied Bakeries has received five complaints involving fragments of glass or sewing needles. The foreign objects were clearly visible once the bread bag was opened and were not embedded in the bread.

The Orpington bakery distributes to retailers across the South East of England including Bookers, Iceland, Londis, Sainsbury?s, Spar, Tesco and a range of smaller retail outlets. However, there have been no reports of foreign objects found in bread sold by these retailers under their own labels.

If any customers report finding any foreign objects in any Allied Bakeries bread, they should contact the Allied Bakeries Customer Careline on 01628 507320 immediately.

The Agency has issued a Food Alert for Action

Thanks, PreggieMum.

RE gelatine, though - surely if we make stew with meat with bones, the gravy gets thick partly because of the effect of boiling the bones in the juice? If you eat meat, it's merely squeamish to worry about gelatine, isn't it? Likewise cochineal - beetles are v similiar to prawns - outside shell etc - and is colouring from beetles really more revolting than drinking the bodily fluids of goats?

Blu - the difference between what you describe and gelatine is that the ingredients for it are scraped up off the floor when they power washed the last of the flesh off the carcass in the slaughterhouses. Meat on the bone doesn't get contaminated in this way.

Personally, I don't mind eating squashed beetles (like prawns too) but my kids are very squemish about them at the minute!

I love the packets that say "no artificial flavours or colours" and then have MSG and crushed up beetle in them. Partly they use the beetles because they are "natural" and that's what people want. (the natural bit, not the beetle bit)