Glass and metal contamination spark food recalls

Retailer Spar has been forced to recall batches of its own-label chicken tikka chunks, after small pieces of glass were discovered in them. The recall applied to 140g packs of the products, with a use-by date of May 19 2017.

The retailer advised consumers who had bought products not to eat them and instead return them to the store they were purchased from for a full refund.

Metal contamination was the cause of a recall of sweets produced by manufacturer William Santus & Company.  

Uncle Joe’s Liquorice & Aniseed Extra Strong Mints 35g tins were recalled because the sweets might contain small pieces of metal, which could represent a safety risk.

Contain small pieces of metal​

Tins with an expiry date of June 30 2018 and a batch code of TC16015 were included in the recall.

Consumers were advised to return the products to William Santus. The company will replace the product and reimburse any postage costs.

A spokesman for the company said: “We are aware of how the metal contaminated the sweet and additional measures have been put in place to minimise any further future risks.​

“We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and assure customers of our commitment to the highest standard of product quality and safety.”​

This month also saw a packing error force snack manufacturer Corfresh to recall a batch of its Cornflake Mix snack.

The product was mistakenly packaged with the company’s Salted Rice Sticks that contained gluten, making them a health risk to consumers who have an intolerance or allergy to the ingredient.

A health risk to consumers​

The recall applied to 325g packs of the snack, with the best before date of December 16 2017 and the batch code L13/080.

Corfresh apologised for the packaging error to its customers and consumers.

A packaging error also sparked the recall of Aldi’s 38ml packs of Madagascan Vanilla Extract, because it was incorrectly packed with Moroccan Almond Extract.

The extract, with a best before date of December 12 2017, posed a health risk to consumers who were allergic or intolerant to almonds.

Customers who had bought the product were advised to return them to their nearest Aldi store to receive a full refund.

Meanwhile, supermarket giant Tesco last month blamed a “manufacturing error” ​​after recalling a batch of its Finest Crab & Chilli Linguine, which actually contained its Finest Spaghetti Carbonara.