2002: Premier Foods receives 5 tonne consignment of red chilli powder
June 2003: Food Standards Agency issues alert on use of Sudan I dye in food production
July 2003: A ban on use of the dark red dye in food imposed throughout European Union. A duty imposed on all countries to test all imports of red chilli powder for contamination
September 2004: Premier’s red chilli starts to be used as an ingredient for production of Worcester Sauce.
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January 28 2005: Premier Foods are alerted by an Italian customer who had tested some Crosse & Blackwell Worcester Sauce and found it contained the illicit dye
February 2: Premier informed Hertfordshire trading standards and environmental health officers
February 7: New tests confirmed the dye was present in the sauce. Premier alerted the Food Standards Agency
February 14: Premier informed the agency about the size of the possible contamination. Leading retailers informed
February 16: Other leading food companies informed
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February 17: Most supermarket stores have cleared their shelves of the suspect products.