The Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed that the supermarket had issued a recall notice on all Tesco 4 x 110ml packs of chocolate and nut ice cream cones following two incidents.
The FSA said on its website: “Tesco has undertaken a precautionary recall of this product as two individual Tesco chocolate and nut ice cream cones have been found to contain a tablet (for pain relief).”
The retailer had recalled all date codes of the product and would display recall notices in stores. The recall affects all ‘best before’ date codes up to and including July 2014.
Cones were found to contain a tablet
A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “As a precautionary measure, we have issued a product recall on a Tesco Chocolate and Nut Ice Cream Cone product after two individual cones were found to contain a tablet for pain relief. We are urgently investigating this incident with our supplier and ask customers to return this product to their local store.”
Customers have been urged not to eat the product. They are advised to return the products to Tesco stores for a full refund or to contact the retailer.
The ice cream cones were supplied by R&R Ice Cream – Europe’s largest own-label ice cream manufacturer. A spokesman for the supplier confirmed that it made ice cream cones for Tesco but declined to comment further.
No reports of illness
There have been no reports of illness associated with the recall and no other Tesco products are known to be affected.
Meanwhile, in August Tesco recalled eight Indian and Chinese own-label ambient meals, due to a production fault. The retailer said it recalled the products because the fault meant the rice in some packs could become mouldy during storage.
Last November own-label chilled food manufacturer Bakkavor reported the police were investigating “a malicious act of contamination” at one of its sites, which had cost the firm £1M.
In a statement accompanying the firm’s third-quarter results, the company said: “A malicious but isolated act of contamination at one of our factories in August led to its temporary closure, consequent loss of sales, and one-off costs.”