Illegal sweets ‘flooding UK high streets,’ councils warn
Illegal sweets containing banned additives linked to behavioural problems and cancer are "flooding UK high streets," councils have warned.
Illegal sweets containing banned additives linked to behavioural problems and cancer are “flooding UK high streets,” councils have warned.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) cautioned that demand for US confectionary was being encouraged by influencers on social media.
The regulators said colourful sweets and drinks shown on platforms like TikTok had led to a rise in demand for these goods from teenagers and children.
Convenience retailers and high street shops have started selling the sweets to take advantage of this trend, with “millions” being imported to the UK.
Staffordshire county council reported 3,378 products being seized during a pilot project funded by the Food Standards Agency, while Manchester city council said its environmental health team had been seizing illegal goods from stores this week.
Banned ingredients in the UK include vegetable oil (BVO), mineral oil, and bleached flour, while imported goods including banned additives include Swedish Fish, Jolly Rancher Hard Candy and Fanta Pineapple.
Some of the brands where banned additives have been identified include items intended for the UK that meet legislation.
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CTSI CEO John Herriman said: “The UK prides itself on high food standards but this very much relies on trading standards ensuring that what is on sale complies with the law.
“Trading standards work extremely hard to protect the public by removing dangerous products from sale, but the popularity of these items is being increased by videos on social media platforms, such as TikTok.”
He added: “The increase in demand means importers are sending these through our ports and borders in the millions, and these are then being widely distributed and ending up in retail stores and in the hands of children.”
The UK has seen a wave of American Candy stores landing on its high streets in recent years.
Last February, an American candy store on Oxford Street had more than £55,000 worth of suspected illegal goods seized in a raid.
Trading Standards officers recovered 2,200 items, including fake designer mobile phone covers, a haul of vapes with twice the legal amount of nicotine, and sweets banned in the UK.
In May 2023, Westminster City Council wrote to the landlords of Oxford Street’s American candy, vape and souvenir shops begging them to take action.
Councillor Adam Hug requested that the landlords did “all that they can” to bring the influx of American candy stores on the street to an end.
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