British bakery forced to stop selling cookies for using ‘illegal’ US sprinkles

A bakery in Britain was forced to stop selling its popular cookies for using sprinkles from the US which contain a coloring substance illegal in the United Kingdom, according to media reports.

The bakery is based in Leeds, UK. Its owner called the ordeal “Sprinklegate” on his Facebook page, adding that it was “annoying.”

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Most of the bakery’s cookies use the illegal US sprinkles, including their best-selling ones. However, the owner was forced to remove them from the bakery’s menu.

Every cookie in his bakery sells for around 10 pounds, or $13.75.

“It is HIGHLY unlikely that we will find any legal sprinkles that we will use as a replacement,” the owner and baker said on Facebook.

“British sprinkles just aren’t the same,” he said, adding that he is passionate about sprinkles.

The coloring found in the sprinkles, erythrosine, is used as a red coloring in some foods. It is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a food coloring.

In the UK, erythrosine is known as E127 and, under legislation implementing European Union law, it is limited to use in “cocktail cherries, candied cherries, bigarreaux cherries in syrup and cocktails,” according to ScienceDirect.

“Unfortunately, I am only prepared to use them and no others. If I can’t use them, I won’t use any. I will be on sprinkle strike,” the bakery’s owner said.

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