THE owners of Worcester firm Lea & Perrins have said they are not worried about sales following a recent health scare with another product.

More than 418 products have been removed from supermarket shelves after the illegal red dye, Sudan 1, was found in Crosse & Blackwell Worcester Sauce.

It had been feared that consumers could boycott the original Worcestershire sauce out of ignorance.

But a spokesman for HP, who now owns Lea & Perrins, said every effort had been made to ensure people knew its product was safe.

"We have had articles in the local and national Press, have done interviews on radio, appeared on television and even had the issue brought up in Parliament," said the spokesman.

"We have also reassured 4,000 people who have phoned our consumer lines.

"I think most people know by now that Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is not affected and is perfectly safe.

"Having said that, we do not have the sales figures yet to tell if our campaign worked.

"We are waiting on supermarkets to come back to us with the numbers, but we are certainly not panicking about what they might say."