The cancer-causing dye Sudan has been detected in six kinds of lipsticks on sale at the biggest wholesale market in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province, local official sources said on Monday.

 Sudan, a red dye which causes cancer in mice and rabbits, was found in lipsticks produced by two different companies from Shantou city in Guangdong Province, according to a recent survey by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Sudan-I,II and IV were found in five kinds of lipsticks made by Heng Fang Cosmetic Co. and Sudan-IV was found in lipsticks from Shilulan Cosmetic Co., said officials from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision.

Production at the two companies has been suspended. Shilulan had in fact stopped its lipstick production a long time ago and 8,000 lipsticks have since been recovered and destroyed.

The dangerous lipsticks were found in the Xingfa wholesale market, said Bureau officials.

Heng Fang lipsticks are sold at a price of 10 yuan (about US$1.30) a dozen. The suspect articles have been taken off shelves by local officials.

Sudan-I, II and IV are authorized for use as a lubricant or to give color to gasoline, wax, shoes and floor boards. Sudan-III is authorized for use in cosmetics but not for products for the lips and eyes, said Bureau staff.

Sudan is on general sale in China and last year the country experienced a food scare when the dye was found in duck eggs with reddish yolks.

Investigators discovered that poultry farmers in north China's Hebei Province had mixed the dye into the feed because red yolks are believed to be more nutritious and expensive.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the contaminated eggs were mainly sold in Beijing, but the scare spread far beyond the Chinese capital.

Hebei Province seized 580 kilograms of suspicious eggs and 800 kilograms of contaminated feed. At least 5,100 ducks were culled in Pingshan County, where the cancer-causing chemical was first detected.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2007)