Photo: Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda tomato purée ‘own-brand’ products.

Waitrose and Asda are among the supermarkets facing backlash over allegations of selling ‘Italian’ tomato purée that actually may contain tomatoes from China, according to a new investigation.

A BBC Eye investigation found that upmarket grocer Waitrose is one of several supermarkets marketing its own-brand tomato purée as ‘Italian’, but allegedly contains tomatoes grown in both China and Italy.

It is understood that independent testing commissioned by BBC World Service claimed that 17 products sold by leading UK and German grocers, including Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda, contained at least some Chinese tomatoes.

The products are all from ‘own-brand’ ranges, including Essential Waitrose Tomato Purée, Asda’s Organic Tomato Purée, Tesco’s Italian Tomato Purée and Morrisons Tomato Purée.

China is one of the world’s largest tomato producers, with supplies coming from the Xinjiang province, an area which has been highlighted by the United Nations from reports of human rights abuse and forced labour of minorities.

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It is thought Italian tomato goods manufacturer Antonia Petti, which produces products under its own name but also supplies own-brand to supermarkets, is a major recipient of tomatoes from Xinjiang.

The UK supermarkets‘ responses have been mixed, with Tesco immediately suspending its supply, while Waitrose and Morrisons said they have since run their own tests and the results contradicted the BBC’s investigation by not showing any presence of Chinese tomatoes.

A Waitrose spokesman told the Telegraph: “We were appalled to hear these serious allegations, and launched an immediate investigation, sending a team of food auditors to the site in Italy.

“We’ve now conducted isotope testing at a leading, independent lab – along with a detailed traceability audit on our puree – neither of which showed evidence of Chinese tomatoes. If we identify any evidence that our puree was not produced in line with our strict specification, we will take urgent action.”

A Tesco spokesperson added: “We are committed to protecting the rights of everyone working in our supply chain and we work hard to ensure the authenticity of the products we sell. We take these very concerning allegations extremely seriously and suspended supply from this site as soon as we were made aware of these claims. Our investigation of these claims is ongoing, and we would urge the BBC to share their data to aid this investigation.

“The BBC acknowledges that the testing method used for this programme is not a definitive “proof of origin” test.  Trace Element Analysis testing alone cannot prove that a sample does not originate from the claimed country and therefore these results, in isolation, are not conclusive. Nonetheless, we are thoroughly investigating these claims.”

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “Our policy is clear: we do not permit ingredients or finished products from Xinjiang. We took these allegations very seriously and immediately undertook our own audit of the supplier and commissioned our own testing using independent, accredited laboratories.

“The audit gave us full confidence that the tomato puree in the products was from an approved source in California, USA and the testing – using both SIRA and TEA methods – concluded that it was not of Chinese origin. We explained to the BBC why their TEA testing method was flawed in this case and offered to exchange Certificates of Analysis with them. Professor Chris Elliott OBE, the internationally-recognised food integrity expert, offered to speak to the BBC about the test results in a fully independent capacity. The BBC declined both offers.”

Asda has been contacted for comment.