EU: New red wonderberry faces ban from shelves

A WILD berry hailed as a miracle food and now popular in Whitby could soon be banned unless it can be proved to have been in use for more than 10 years.
The small, red goji berry, reputed to be full of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins has become fashionable since it was recommended by a television nutritionist and endorsed by cult figures including Madonna and Kate Moss.

It is claimed it combats heart disease, cancer and skin damage caused by the sun. It has been used for years in China and parts of Asia where it is known as the wolfberry. In this country it is sold mainly in health or whole food shops in dried fruit mixes and cereal bars and it can also be used in baking.

But the Food Standards Agency is now threatening to ban it from 23 March unless there is proof it has been eaten in this or another EU country since before 1997.

The EU rules state that although there is no immediate threat to health from the berry it must fulfil three criteria – that it is not unsafe, the labelling must not be misleading and its nutritional quality must not be inferior to other similar foods that could replace it.

John McMillan of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Sheffield University emailed an item about the goji berry to the Whitby Gazette where he asks if anyone in the area has used the berry since pre-1997.

He claims the berry grows wild along the length of the north east coast from Spurn Head to Saltburn and he believes there is “an impressive colony” along Staithes Beck. A spokesman for Shepherds Purse shop in Whitby’s Church Street told the Gazette they have been selling dried goji berries for four to five months.

He said: “They’ve proved very popular and we’re sold out of them at present. “In China they’ve been used for years, generally infused in tea.” l Are any Whitby Gazette readers regular users of the berries and if so what do they think of the threatened ban?

Does anyone know of them growing locally in the wild?

Source: allafrica.com