Gü released a statement in late November that said: “An error has occurred in the heating of the truffle filling in our 70% cocoa truffles and they may show signs of mould growth.
"This only affects certain batches of this product. We do not believe this mould poses any health risk.”
Boots and Waitrose products affected
Gü said it was withdrawing the batches in question – which are limited to Gü 70% cocoa truffles sold in Waitrose, and a “limited number” of Gü Chocs and Mug sets and Chocs and Stand sets sold in Boots – and is urging customers to contact it for a refund.
The problems affect Waitrose-sold truffles with a Best Before End (BBE) date of 31/3/11 and those with a batch code of 092001 and BBE of 31/5/11; Boots products with 144008, 148001, 148002 and 148003 batch codes are also affected.
Although the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) did not comment on the recall, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said on November 30 that Boots stores had issued in-store notices and letters to affected store card holders; the retailer requested product returns for the mug gift sets, but the FSAI stressed that “no action is required by official agencies”.
Escolme confirmed as MD
Meanwhile, former Findus UK Frozen Foods md Mark Escolme has been appointed as Gü’s new managing director, a company spokeswoman confirmed.
The new appointment follows Escolme’s surprise departure from Findus Group in November after only 12 months in the role for what the firm described as “personal reasons", namely the need "to spend more time with his young family”.
Escolme has over 20 years experience working for major brands and companies in the UK and overseas. Prior to working for Findus Group he was group md at cleaning firm SC Johnson.