Food recalls sparked by soya, nuts, gluten and sulphur dioxide

Convenience store group Nisa Retail announced yesterday the recall of Heritage cupcakes because soya was left off the list of ingredients printed on its packaging.

The packs of four cupcakes, priced £1, were mislabelled due to a “production error”​ and pose health risks for consumers with soya allergies.

Retailer TJX Europe has recalled Choco Creation dried fruit mixes, which contained undeclared peanuts and had been sold at TK Maxx and HomeSense stores.

Cottage Kitchen’s mini traybake selection packaging also did not list walnuts as one of its ingredients and therefore posed a risk for people with nut allergies.

Recalled nutritional product​

The selection was recalled following its sale at 48 stores in Northern Ireland. 

Superfood supplier Nutrisure has recalled a batch of nutritional product Naturya Barleygrass Powder because it contains gluten even though it was labelled as ‘gluten free’.

People with Coeliac disease have adverse reactions to gluten and can suffer symptoms such as diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal pain, weight loss and tiredness.

Earlier this month family business Selwyns Seaweed recalled a batch of seaweed, honey and sesame snacks because the packets did not declare the preservative sulphur dioxide.

EDA Quality Foods have also recalled golden sultanas because sulphur dioxide was used during processing, but not mentioned on its labels.

Sulphur dioxide can trigger asthma attacks​

Sulphur dioxide and sulphites can trigger asthma attacks and allergy-like symptoms in people who are sensitive to the food additives.

Meanwhile, avoiding costly product recalls will be one of the subjects covered at the Food Manufacture Group’s one­-day food safety conference.

The conference will examine the latest developments to ensure food safety from the farm, through manufacture and the supply chain, to products and packaging on sale.

Taking place at the Lowry in Manchester, it will also discuss what more the industry can do to reassure consumers about the safety and authenticity of the food they eat.

Read more about the conference, being held on Tuesday September 29, here.