Britain’s major supermarkets have pulled sandwiches, wraps and ready meals from their shelves following a salmonella outbreak at a factory in Hull.
Tesco, M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Aldi have all removed affected items from the shelves and are asking customers not to eat them if they haven’t already. Leon and Pret have also pulled products.
It is not yet known whether customers have fallen ill from the bacteria, which has an incubation period of up to 72 hours. Symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps. The affected products have use-by dates of May 11,12 and 13.
Britain’s largest supermarket, Tesco, has recalled 14 items, including chicken breast slices, coronation chicken pieces and flame-grilled chicken thins. Sainsbury’s has pulled its Taste the Difference chicken sandwiches, chicken wraps, chicken sandwich platters and some of its cooked chicken.
M&S has flagged 12 items, including its Coronation Chicken Deli Filler, 14 piece classic sandwich platter and Classic mini roll selection, while Waitrose has pulled 10 of its own chicken sandwich and wraps. Pret has removed all items containing chicken from its menu.
Cause of outbreak remains a mystery
Pret said: "As a precautionary measure, we've temporarily removed the majority of chicken items on our menu due to a potential food safety risk at one of our suppliers. We hope to have these products back in shops soon."
It comes after salmonella was detected during a "routine internal inspection" at Cranswick processing plant in Hull. Cranswick, which is listed on the FTSE 250, supplies premium meats and pies to most of Britain’s big supermarkets. The company has 11 factories across the UK but only the Hull site is thought to have been affected by the salmonella outbreak.
The cause of the outbreak is not yet known but Salmonella infections typically stem from undercooked poultry or unsanitary food preparation.
Cranswick said: "As a precautionary measure, we have asked our customers to remove any of their products containing our ready to eat chicken produced during the affected period.
"We are working closely with the Foods Standards Agency and will collaborate with their experts to resolve the matter.' It said that the factory 'will remain closed until the investigations are complete."
