Leeds Get Baked bakery bins best-seller in 'sprinkle-gate' row

A bakery has had to stop producing its bestselling biscuit after officials found the treats were topped with illegal sprinkles.

Get Baked in Leeds withdrew its raspberry glazed donut cookies, which contained a banned food colouring.

Owner Rich Myers branded the decision "ridiculous" and said alternative sprinkles on the market were "rubbish".

West Yorkshire Trading Standards said the imported decoration had fallen foul of UK regulations.

Mr Myers said: "I know it sounds like a small thing but it is a big deal for my business - we used them a lot.

"Our best-selling cookie, we're not going to be able to sell them anymore. For a small independent business that only has a small menu, it's a problem."

Trading Standards said the E127 food colouring, also know as Erythrosine, is only approved for use in the UK and EU in cocktail cherries and candied cherries.

"[The inspector] said they'd had reports of us using illegal sprinkles and I actually laughed by mistake, then realised he was being serious," Mr Myers said.

He said he sourced the US-made cake toppers from a UK-based wholesaler, adding that other products on the market were not as good.

"British sprinkles are rubbish," he said.

"They run and aren't bake-stable. The colours aren't vibrant and they just don't look very good."

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Trading Standards said: "We can confirm that we have advised the business concerned the use of E127 is not permitted in this type of confectionery item.

"We stand by this advice and would urge all food business operators, when seeking to use imported foods containing additives, to check that they are permitted for use in the UK."