UK Supermarket recalls salmon in listeria bug scare
Pastor Dale Morgan
UK Supermarket recalls salmon in listeria bug scare*
By Caroline Davies
Last Updated: 3:31pm BST 21/08/2007
The supermarket chain Waitrose has warned that some of their smoked
salmon products contain unacceptably high levels of listeria and should
not be eaten.
Salmon: Waitrose recalls salmon products in food bug alert
Waitrose has recalled two own-brand salmon products
Two products - Waitrose Smoked Salmon Parcels 115g, and Waitrose Poached
Salmon Terrines 100g - both with date codes up to and including August
28 - are being recalled.
The products, which have been on the supermarket's shelves for a maximum
of two to three days, were discovered to have above the legally
permitted levels of listeria during routine testing by the supermarkets
suppliers, Macrae, who immediately notified Waitrose.
A spokesman said they were not aware of any reported cases of illness,
but warned consumers not to eat the products but to return them to their
nearest supermarket for a full refund.
The company said the quantities of the products affected was in the
hundreds, not the thousands.
But they had been sold across branches in England, Scotland and Wales.
“Waitrose has the highest standards of customer safety and we took
action as soon as we were told about these test results,” said a
spokesman for Waitrose.
Pregnant women and those with impaired immune systems are most at risk
from listeria infections which can prove fatal.
Infection is rare in normal healthy children and adults.
Listeria can cause miscarriages and premature birth, as well as
meningitis in newborn children.
It also can also cause septicaemia and meningitis occurs in adults whose
immunity to infection is impaired, such as those suffering from cancer
or leukaemia or transplant patients.
It is found, usually in small numbers, in many foods including:
# raw fish, shellfish and fish products;
# raw meat, poultry and their products including hot dogs and pate;
# raw and processed vegetables;
# ripened soft cheeses;
# ice cream;
# retail cook-chill meals;
# salads including coleslaw;
# raw and inadequately pasteurised milk;
# and well as raw and liquid egg.