LONDON, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Britain's food watchdog said Thursday it has launched an unprecedented investigation into how an allegedly cancer-causing agent Sudan 1 find its way into the string of British food industry.

    The director of Food Standard Agency (FSA) David Statham said in a statement that "local authorities across the country have visited a number of premises to look at records and take samples," adding that "this is a major investigation".

    Over the past week, the FSA has ordered the withdrawal of 419 products, ranging from ready-made meals to popular sauces, because they are tainted by a potentially cancer-causing dye.

    The red-colored dye, which is used for coloring industrial products such as gasoline and shoe polish, was found in a batch of chilli powder used by the British company Premier Foods to make Worcester sauce, which was then added as an ingredient in a wide range of products.

    Determined to find out how traces of the illegal dye Sudan 1 found its way into Britain's food chain, the FSA said it was conducting its largest ever investigation with the help of five local authorities.

    It is illegal to put Sudan 1 into food in Britain or elsewhere in the European Union, and all chilli powder imported since July 2003 has to be certified free of the agent.

    The offending sample is thought to have entered Britain before that time. Enditem