Listeria and salmonella force product recalls

Neal’s Yard Creamery in Dorstone, Herefordshire, recalled its ‘Hay on Wye’ unpasteurised goat’s cheese because high levels of listeria have been found in the product.

The product affected has an 80g pack-size and a best-before date of June 20 2016.

The company has provided point-of-sale notices to be displayed in all stores and market stalls, telling consumers why the product is being recalled and what to do if they have bought it.

No other Neal’s Yard Creamery products are known to be affected.

Salmonella detection​

TRS Wholesale Company has extended its recall of Dhania (Coriander) Powder to include an additional batch because salmonella has been detected in the product.

The batch affected comes in 100g packs with a best-before date of March 31 2018. The original recall alert was issued on March 29 2016.

Listeria has also been cited in two other recall cases. Bounce Food is recalling its Cashew & Pecan Vitality Lift Balls and Apple & Cinnamon Protein Punch Balls, as the products might contain the bacteria.

Costco Wholesale, meanwhile, has updated its recall to include its Dr Praeger’s brand Frozen Organic Veggie Burger because the products might contain Listeria monoctyogenes​.

The company had previously recalled its Organic by Nature brand Organic Vegetable Medley.

Total number of food incidents​

The FSA’s Annual Report of Food Incidents, published last week, showed that the total number of incidents in 2015 was similar to those seen in recent years.

Overall, the FSA and Food Standards Scotland were notified of, investigated and managed 1,514 food, feed and environmental contamination incidents in the UK.

The four largest contributors to the total number of recorded incidents in 2015 were:

• Pathogenic micro-organisms (18%)
• Allergens (14%)
• Chemical contamination (other) (12%)
• Residues of veterinary medicinal products (8%)

The report found that 67% of the pathogenic micro-organism incidents were related to either salmonella species or Escherichia coli (E.coli)​. However, 49 of the 75 E.coli​ incidents resulted from shellfish bed monitoring.

The number of allergen incidents increased from 89 in 2013 to 206 in 2015. The FSA said this might be related to new rules on providing allergen ingredients information from December 2014.

Fires were the cause of almost all chemical contamination (other) incidents in 2015, the FSA said.