The supermarket said that an error with own of the moulds on its production line had caused the contamination.
A Waitrose spokesman said: “During a production run some pieces of a plastic mould broke off. Although we believe only a small amount of the production run was affected we are asking customers with any of the batch to return it for a refund. We apologise for any inconvenience to our customers.”
The recall applied to 85g bars of Waitrose 1 White Chocolate, White Chocolate and Matcha Tea & Pistachio, Milk Chocolate with Pistachio, Almond & Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate with Feuilletine & Sea Salt. The bars all have the best before date of July 2018.
Advised not to eat them
Consumers who have bought any of the bars were advised not to eat them and instead return them to the store they were purchased from for a full refund.
In the past month, a number of food and drink products have been recalled for containing undeclared allergens.
West by Three Brewing Company recalled bottles of The Pilot Series Berry White IPA, because they do not mention that the ingredient lactose is derived from milk.
This meant the product was a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents.
Possible health risk
The company recalled 330ml bottles of the drink with the best before date code of March 14 2018.
Consumers with an allergy or intolerance to milk were told not to drink the product and instead return it to the store it was bought from to receive a full refund.
Meanwhile, undeclared peanuts have forced the recall of 9Nine Brand Foods’s Super Seeds Breakfast Apricot and Strawberry Bar.
The snack manufacturer has recalled 50g packs with the best before date of May 23 2018 and the batch code C2 206.
The bars are a possible health risk to consumers with an allergy to peanuts. Consumers have been advised to return the product to the store it was bought from to receive a full refund.
Minimising the risk of recalls – expert comment
Duncan Moir, product manager at IT systems developer Epicor Software, said food and drink firms need to be able to react quickly if threatened with a product recall.
“Food and beverage manufacturers have distinct needs and face huge risks unique to their business, “That’s why it is vital they have the right processes and technology in place so that they react swiftly.
Having the right enterprise resource planning solution which is specifically designed to be agile and responsive will reduce such risks, and when mishaps occur, assist with traceability and the recovery plan.”