Food and drink recall round-up: Undeclared allergens, metal pieces and lead

Big four retailer Tesco was forced to pull packs of Wicked Kitchen Spinach & Garlic Ravioli from sale after it was discovered they might contain small pieces of metal.

The recall applied to 250g packs of the product with the use-by date of 12 January 2023. The presence of small pieces of metal in the product made it unsafe to eat.

Tesco issued an apology for the inconvenience caused and directed consumers to return any affected products to their nearest store to receive a full refund.

Undeclared milk​

Undeclared milk was the cause of two separate recalls by Whitakers Chocolates and another big four retailer, Morrisons.

Whitakers Chocolates has recalled Whitakers Lime and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Inclusions Bar because it contained milk not mentioned on the label.

The recall applied to 90g packs of the chocolate bars with the batch codes 1209 and 1210 with the best before date of July 2023 and batch code 2076 with the best before date of August 2023.

Morrisons pulled 350g packs of its Tomato and Chilli Pasta Sauce from store shelves for not mentioning milk on the label.

Products included in this recall had the use by date of 25 January 2023. Morrisons also noted that the product contained pepperoni which was also not mentioned on the ingredients list, however this is not one of the 14 allergens that are required to be bolded on a product’s ingredients list.

The Food Standards Agency advised consumers that have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents do not eat it either product and instead return them to the store from where it was bought for a full refund.

Lead in human breast milk products​

This month also saw the recall of a number of human breast milk products made by NeoKare Nutrition Ltd, after they were found to contain elevated levels of lead.

While a small number of product were sold to consumers online, the main customers for products were 13 hospitals who were supplied by the company. Investigations are ongoing to establish how the elevated levels of lead occurred.

Products in the recall included: Mother’s Milk Fortifier powder 10 x 1g; Pasteurised Human Breast Milk powder 6g; 70cal Liquid Frozen 15ml and 50ml; and Pasteurised Human Breast Milk liquid frozen 50ml.

Junior Johnson, director of operations at the FSA, said: “This situation is understandably worrying for the parents and guardians affected. We have worked closely with the public health authorities and the NHS to assess the risk to health, which is likely to be low. ​

“Following advice from FSA and Trading Standards, the business recalled the products and we’ve ensured that customers and patients are contacted. Additional support has been offered to retail customers and to families whose children were given the products.”​