PRODUCT recalls of food items found to be contaminated with the dye Para Red have began in South Buckinghamshire.

Para Red is not permitted in food and is chemically similar to the previously recalled Sudan 1.

Items containing chilli powder supplied by Ramon Sabater of Spain and distributed by East Anglian Food Ingredients Ltd, and those containing ground cayenne pepper imported by Lion Foods and distributed by Perfecta Ltd have been removed from supermarket shelves.

A statement from Wycombe District Council read: "All premises are requested to access the Food Agency website and cross reference the products that they sell against the list to ensure that further products containing Para Red are removed from sale as quickly as possible."

"If they find that they have affected products, they should remove them from sale immediately and make plans for removal of affected products from the supply chain."

The full list can be seen on the Food Agency website www.food.gov.uk/parared.

Any premises that cannot access the list of products known to be affected can contact Andrew Collinson on 01494 421710 or visit one of the council's offices where a list will be available for inspection