Undeclared allergens spark a raft of recalls

Food firms Southern Synergy, Farmhouse Biscuits and Booths have all removed products from sale, with notices appearing on the Food Standards Agency’s website.

Snack maker Southern Synergy has recalled batches of its Arnott’s Shapes Originals line of savoury biscuits, after it was found they contained celery and/ or mustard that were not mentioned on the packaging.

Two variants of the snack were included on the recall – 175g packs of Barbecue and 190g packs of Pizza – with best-before dates ranging from 10 October 2018 to 12 February 2019.

Possible health risk​

Undeclared wheat sparked the recall of Farmhouse Biscuits’ Honey & Oat Biscuits this week, as they posed a possible health risk to consumers with an allergy or intolerance to wheat or gluten.

Farmhouse retuned 200g packs of the biscuits from sale, with the batch code 19211. The recalled products all had the best-before date of end of May 2019.

In a statement, Farmhouse said: “It has come to our attention that a small number of packets of this batch have the incorrect biscuits packed within, resulting in an incorrect allergen declaration on the pack. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”​

Not mentioned on the label​

Incorrect allergen labelling has also forced E H Booths & Co to recall its Booths Chicken Tikka Masala with Pilau Rice Pot. The rice pots contained cashew nuts that were not mentioned on the label.

The recall applied to 350g packs of the rice pots and all use-by dates.

Customers with an allergy or intolerance to any of the above allergens were advised to not eat the products and instead return them to the store they were purchased from to receive a full refund.

Meanwhile, the manufacturer at the centre of the latest Pret a Manger allergen controversy has said claims made against it by the retailer are “unfounded.”​​​