Sudan 1 is a red dye normally used as a colouring agent in solvents, oils, waxes, petrol, and shoe and floor polish. A study by the German Cancer Research Centre in 2002 confirmed that Sudan 1 could cause cancer of liver and urinary bladder among humans.

Following this, more than 418 food products have been withdrawn from the Britain’s supermarkets. But the Indian market continues to sell these products. According to the government, “The Spices Board had imposed very stringent norms about colouring agents, and the chillies supplied to the European Union did not have any cancer-causing substances.” Another fact worth noting is that India is the chief exporter of spices to the world. The presence of carcinogen-laden dye in the spices puts a question mark on the monitoring of these ingredients. Food companies in the UK have admitted that the adulterated chilli powder added to the sauce had been used in food sent to hospitals and schools. FSA is still trying to track who has been responsible for adulteration or whether anyone should be prosecuted for it.

Before time

Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality in industrialised countries. Adverse pregnancy outcomes are more frequent among socially dis-advantaged women. Following the introduction of economic and political reforms in Russia in 1991, majority of the population became impoverished. There was a considerable decline in the overall life expectancy and an increase in the social and health inequalities. The proportion of infants born before term increased in many industrialised countries during the same time span. For instance, preterm birth rates increased from 9.4 per cent in 1981 to 11.9 per cent in 2001 in the US. A study was conducted by Grjibovski and his co-workers from Karolinska Institute in Severodvinsk, a town in Russia in 1999. All pregnant women registered at prenatal care centres in the town were enrolled for the study. Data on maternal education, occupation, marital status, pre-pregnancy weight, gestational length and pregnancy out-comes was obtained from the medical records of the maternity homes. Data on maternal reproductive history and complications was also abstracted from the records. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that maternal education was significantly associated with the period of gestation and spontaneous preterm birth. A low level of education among the women was associated with the risk of preterm birth. Mothers aged more than 30 years were also at increased risk of preterm delivery. Two mechanisms to explain social disparities in preterm birth were proposed. The first involves unhealthy behaviours, infections, exposure to stress and physiological reactions to these factors that shorten gestation. The second one involves gene and environment interaction resulting in a structural change of the former. Economic crisis in Russia led to poor compliance with the medical recommendations on diet and vitamin supplementation.