Health warning over jars used for baby food

Baby food producers have been told to change the jars they use over concerns about a cancer-causing chemical that seeps into food from the airtight plastic seal.

The European Food Safety Authority recommends a swift reduction in the use of semicarbazide in baby food jars. Food and packaging companies have begun a crash programme costing millions of pounds to comply ­ though the authorities may still impose a 12-month deadline.

The Food Standards Agency said parents should not stop feeding their children food from jars, because the risks were "very small". However Sir John Krebs, the FSA's chairman, said there was "considerable uncertainty" about the risks posed by semicarbazide, whose presence in food ­ at about 25 parts per billion ­ was only discovered by the industry this year. Semicarbazide is produced during the heat treatment used to make the sealing gaskets for the lids of jars and bottles. "Millions of them are sold every year," said an FSA spokesman.

The chemical has been found to have leached in small amounts into foods, including baby foods, pickles, jams and fruit juices.

Sir John said while the FSA was not advising people to stop using foods from jars, it was understandable that parents might be concerned, leading them to choose alternative foods for their babies.

Information about the chemical is limited, although studies on animals have found it to be weakly carcinogenic.

However, it is not possible to say whether it may pose a cancer risk to humans. Urgent work is now underway to develop a greater understanding of the chemical.

The fears over semicarbazide follows those over another newly-discovered chemical in food, called acrylamide, which is formed by cooking chips, crackers and crisps.