EU Alert on Baby Food Jars

Baby food companies in the European Union have been told to redesign and repackage vacuum-packed glass jars and bottles to reduce the danger of contamination by a potentially dangerous agent used in their manufacture.

The EU's food safety authority stressed there was no need for consumers to change their buying habits or for the withdrawal of products because of the "very small risk" of cancer or DNA damage.

Its advisers said such glass jars had an excellent record in protecting baby foods but , as a precaution, the industry should implement "alternative packaging solutions".

Packaging for food for adults, including jams, pickles, sterilised vegetables and ketchups, is also likely to be changed. The problem is caused by semicarbazide, produced during the heat treatment of an agent used to make sealing gaskets for jars.

Sue Barlow, chairwoman of the authority's scientific panel, said: "The risk to consumers resulting from the problem of semicarbazide in foods - if any - is judged to be very small."

Martin Paterson, of the Food and Drink Federation, said manufacturers' vigilance had brought the issue to the authorities' attention. "Manufacturers are committed to finding solutions that do not compromise the long-established safety record, nor introduce new safety concerns through hasty changes to current practice."