A spokesman for the firm told Food Manufacture that the unnamed third party was at the root of the issue, which included recalls from retailers, Aldi, Lidl, Nandos, Sainsbury’s and John Lewis, among others.
“In more than 15 years of successful operation we have never had the need to recall a product for salmonella,” he said.
“The company maintains thorough procedures for the sourcing, use and testing of all products including independent laboratory testing. The frequency of product testing goes way beyond the minimum standards set for the industry.
Testing procedure
“The issue was identified during our testing procedure and root cause analysis has quickly pinpointed the likely source as being from a batch of ingredient supplied by a third party.
“The existence of salmonella was found in a limited volume of houmous that was produced. We immediately alerted the FSA and instructed customers to remove product from all outlets. We continue to work with the FSA on this matter.”
The firm added that testing of all other products produced on the site, including subsequent production of houmous, has not identified any issues.
In total, Zorba recalled 56 lines, which include Sainsbury’s own range, Nando's houmous with Peri-Peri drizzle, Morrisons’ Avocado Houmous, Asda’s Carrot Sticks & Houmous and Lidl’s Meadow Fresh Houmous Selection, due to the potential threat.
In addition, products sold in Aldi, Lidl, Iceland, Supervalu, Centra and Stores in Ireland were also recalled.