Thursday, Jun 30, 2016

Dubai: Two civic bodies in the UAE have allayed concerns of the general public in consuming ‘Tang’ powdered drinks because of the precautions provided for certain sections of consumers.

The Dubai Municipality’s Food Safety Department on Thursday responded to reports circulating on social media about a product warning on Tang juices that they are not suitable for children under three years and for pregnant and lactating women.

A food safety official told Gulf News the popular drink has placed the advisory warning on its label so that these categories of consumers with immunocompromised status will not be affected by consuming the product in large quantities.

“We have done the lab tests and made sure that there is no harm even for these consumers in taking the product moderately. But it is not a good idea to drink many cups of such drinks. However, it is always advisable to read product labels and follow the warnings,” she said.

The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority has also come up with a similar clarification an allergy warning on the labels on some ‘Tang’ products.

The ADFCA assured that the precaution is directed only for a very few consumers known as ‘Phenylketonuria (PKU) Patients’, due to the presence of Aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in some food products which contains the amino acid “Phenylalanine” which is not suitable for PKU patients.

The authority clarified that such precautions are usually mentioned on the labels of food products which contain “Phenylalanine” either naturally, or as the result of artificial sweeteners.

“The legislation stipulates the need to place a warning status in order to protect people who have such allergy. The municipality would like to note that the artificial sweetener is not found in all Tang products,” the Dubai Municipality stated.

The civic bodies pointed out that by providing these warnings on some of their products, the manufacturer, like other committed food producing companies, has underlined its commitment to product specification regulations and other legal requirements.

The Dubai Municipality has been responding to various rumours related to food safety concerns ever since it started a new service to address the rumours spreading on social media. A senior official had earlier told Gulf News that rumours about popular drinks Tang and Vimto frequently popped up during Ramadan, a time when many people consume these drinks after ending fast.

Sajila Saseendran, Senior Reporter

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