Shoppers keen to get their hands on Dubai‘s viral chocolate may be at risk of suffering a deadly reaction at the hands of counterfeit products laced with additives and harmful ingredients, officials warned today.
The delectable treat, which found fame on social media last year, contains a mix of pistachio and crispy kataifi pastry known as ‘angel hair’.
Also known as ‘Can’t Get Knafeh Of It’, it was created by Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian Dubai-based chocolatier, as a new way to satiate her pregnancy cravings.
Like Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, chocolate fans around the world have clamoured for a taste of the confection, which is in desperately short supply.
But certain manufacturers are producing cheap and dangerous knock-offs, the UK’s food safety watchdog said.
According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which published the alert, some Dubai chocolate bars imported to the UK are filled with nasty additives and contaminants.
This includes palm oil, illegal food dyes, toxins produced by moulds and even chemical compounds thought to be carcinogenic.
Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Advisor to the FSA said: ‘The vast majority of food in the UK is safe, but some imported Dubai-style chocolate products don’t meet our standards and could be a food safety risk, especially for consumers with allergies.
As queues have reportedly began to form outside UK supermarkets for the viral Dubai chocolate bar, the growing popularity has even been blamed for a global shortage of pistachios
The bar went viral after Maria Vehera (pictured) shared a video of herself sinking her teeth into the sweet treat, oozing with gooey green filling made from sweet filo and pistachio
The popular milk chocolate bar is filled with crispy knafeh, pistachio cream and tahini spread, were launched in 2021 by Dubai-based Fix Desert Chocolatier (pictured: a pistachio tree)
‘If you are looking to buy Dubai-style chocolate, we advise sticking with trusted retailers, like the ones you’d use for your weekly shop, as products are more likely to be made for UK consumers and so are safe to eat.
‘As it’s difficult for consumers to tell the difference between products made for the UK and those that aren’t, if you have a food allergy or intolerance, we advise that you do not buy the product unless you’re certain it’s intended for sale here.
‘If you have concerns about chocolate that you see on sale, don’t buy it and instead report it to your local authority.
‘We are working closely with local authorities to make sure that any unsafe products are removed from sale as swiftly as possible.’
The FSA is continuing to survey and sample the products to decipher the scale of this issue, it also said.
There are things people can look out for to check whether a product is intended for sale here.
By law, products made to UK standards should have labels in English containing the information including the name of the food – for example, milk chocolate with pistachio paste filling – a list of ingredients, with allergens emphasised and the weight of the food in grams.
It must also have a best before or use by date and the name and address of the UK or EU business responsible for the product information.
If the food is not from the UK or EU, the name and address of the importer must be included.
