The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said yesterday that it will take samples from fast food chains, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, to track whether the banned food colour is present in their food products.
The move follows swiftly on from a KFC recall in China last week: the US firm had pulled two chicken dishes off its menus at more than 1,000 outlets across China after discovering they contained sudan 1. Sudan 1 to IV are classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Last month the discovery of sudan 1 in a consignment of Crosse and Blackwell Worcester sauce (used as both a tabletop sauce and food ingredient) made by British food firm Premier Foods, triggered the biggest recall in the UK's history: more than 600 processed foods have been pulled from the UK shelves.
The impact is rippling across the global food network. Despite the fact sudan 1 has never been detected in the food chain, the Korean food authorities have decided to investigate its presence, says a report in The Korea Times.
"We will conduct tests on chilli-flavoured menu items of fast food chains as we can't rule out the possibility," said Rhim Gi-sub, general director of the food safety bureau at the KFDA, the newspaper reports.
Rhim said the KFDA would decide whether to expand the investigation to other food chains.
Last week the banned food colouring was discovered in batches of roast chicken wings and chicken burgers on sale at KFC fast food outlets in China.
KFC is the second US-based company in China to fall foul of the food scare following revelations earlier this month that Heinz products were also found to contain the illegal colouring.
Although the colouring was found in the sauce of just a few servings, KFC's parent company Yum Brands said that it would stop selling the offending items in all of its Chinese outlets - of which there are more than 1,000.
Placing the onus on testing and supplies, the company said in a statement it was investigating "the supplier in question, to determine its responsibility in using sudan 1 in ingredients provided."
The colouring was discovered after China stepped up its food safety checks following the massive product recall in the UK. These new Chinese checks also uncovered the Heinz contamination.
China is an important market for KFC - its second largest after the US - and the company will be concerned at the impact of the recall on its business.
Too early to put a true figure on the cost of the UK recall, that includes sales loss, destruction, management time, and consultants fees plus the 'softer' costs like brand damage, estimates are rolling at €143 million.