The alert was released after health authorities said they had detected a significant amount of imported foodstuffs contaminated by a carcinogenic dye, the Royal Gazette newspaper said on Monday.

Britain"s Food Standards Agency (FSA) said on Friday that the Worcestershire Sauce distributed by U.K. exporter Premier Foods, contained the dye, Sudan 1, a product generally used for colouring oils, waxes, petrol and shoe polish.

Worcestershire Sauce is also used to flavour a variety of fresh and frozen foods including pies, sandwiches, sausages and soups.

Besides Bermuda, the other Caribbean countries affected include Grenada, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, the Gazette said.

The newspaper said Italian authorities uncovered the problem during a routine inspection of the imported British produce last week, prompting the FSA to issue a global warning.

FSA chief executive, Jon Bell said Sudan 1 "does contribute towards an increased risk of cancer" although he stressed the level of risk was "very small".

However, he cautioned against eating any more of the products listed on its web site www.food.gov.uk/sudanlist.

Bermuda"s Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann said that he had not yet been informed of the alert, but would deal with the issue on Monday.

"If we do have a problem, the normal procedure would be to contact local distributors and get the products off the shelves as quickly as possible," he said.

By: Prensa-Latina