Is it legal to sell artificially-dyed produce made to appear fresh?

[EvilTofu]

I'm talking about nationwide problem with dyed lychee.

Many of you might not be familiar with the fruit. There are several types of lychee, the ones with the brightest red shells and tiny seeds are priced the highest. ($10+ per pound) While the large seeded ones with green or browned shell are considered more ordinary. They should all be somewhat reddish if they are fresh (within 5 days of picking), but they can still good when the shells are brown (under 3 weeks).

It's sure immoral, and it has become the norm. I started noticing the problem few years back at A&P. You can see the dye seeping through the shell, into the flesh. If you soak them in water, the water will turn red in an hour. They dyed the shell to make them look fresh, look more appealing. A&P had that "Fresh obsessed. Guaranteed" slogan, I complained and they gave me a refund. But it didn't stop them selling it the next year.

These days, every store is selling these dyed lychee! How is it legal? This is like painting browned bananas yellow. Not to mention that we don't know if the dye is harmful to human health. I soak them overnight and pour out the water, rinse and repeat, until the water turns clear again before I eat. The shells becomes very pale brown. I suspect that they were from China, picked when they were still green and dyed to look ripe. Whatever happened to the quality lychee imported from Florida and South America?

Where can I take this complaint?

[LIVE SIMPLE]

well,never ate them but after reading it will avoid for sure
its horrible
tnx for opening my eyes

not sure where to complain to though/ maybe Health Canada/

[Zonny]

I think that beef is sometimes dyed to look fresher.

[anisa]

are you absolutely sure they are dyed?

that is weird!

[Shwa Girl]

OP, I think you contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

[walkonby]

EvilTofu I have not bought or eaten lychee, but I agree with Shwa, contact the Can Food Inspection Agency and just inquire wth?? That certainly does not seem healthy or right. ( deceiving)

[kmiecp]

Here is a list of approved dyes for food in Canada (and the foods they are commonly applied too):
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit...-color-eng.php

Im not sure what the big deal is with the lychee since artificial color is added to most food that is sold at large supermarkets. Keep in mind that the laws are pretty strict on iimported food, and (as far as I know) most dyes added to imported produce happen once the product is in Canada- so at leas ou know the standards are a bit higher.

[EvilTofu]

There's nothing wrong with food dye, but not on fresh produce. Fruits with additives are no longer produce, and therefore subject to tax and different food safety regulation. It can be a problem in this case because the lychee could have gone bad and you can't tell because it still look fresh.

The law is supposed to be strict, but the implementation is sloppy. I have friends who worked as food inspection. They just look at whether there are insects, rats, feces, urine, or mold, and that things are kept at right temperature. The agency hires inspectors who keeps Kosher or Halal. I understand that you can't discriminate people for their religion, but it is affecting their ability at work.

My brother who used to work for an import meat company said that a Muslim inspector would just ask, "The pork's over there? It's refrigerated? OK. I don't need to look." and that's it. If something is sketchy, they would just stack boxes of bacon around it. It's like a force field. This went on for years! The law is tough only when people got caught. We have safe food mainly because big box businesses are doing a pretty good job self monitoring. (Or scared of being sued)

In the case of lychee, they probably sent someone who had never eaten lychee. The inspectors don't know what it is supposed to look like. They just OK'ed it because there were no bugs or mold. Thanks guys, totally forgot about starting this thread. I'll definitely contact the agency.

[lecale]

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[Mia001]

Oranges are very often dyed, so I think it is both legal and common to dye fruit, especially in the case where the dyed part (peel) is discarded before eating.

i was just about to say the same thing