The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have issued a “serious food safety” alert after bread products were pulled from shelves over fears they could cause meningitis.
All bread-based products from Bread Spread based in Southall, England were recalled on Monday after the presence of Listeria monocytogenes were found.
Customers have been urged by the FSA and the company not to eat the various chilled and ready to eat foods and return them to the store they were purchased in.
The items include filled sandwiches, rolls and baguettes.
Now, Environmental Health and Trading Standards Services are investigating the products which have been found not to have been manufactured in accordance with food law requirements.
The products are also subject to a number of hygiene and traceability contraventions, making them unsafe to eat.
An urgent notice said businesses – including catering establishments and corner shops across the UK – should pull any chilled and ready-to-eat foods from sale and dispose of them “safely”.
Described as a “developing situation”, the FSA said its list of affected products may be incomplete.
It cautioned that all foods with a best before date of up to and including May 18, 2024 manufactured or supplied by Bread Spread under brand names Orbital Foods, Perfect Bite and Bread Spread must be removed.
Tina Potter, head of incidents at the FSA said: “The FSA has issued a Food Alert for Action (FAFA) to Environmental Health and Trading Standards Services to remove chilled and ready-to-eat products manufactured and supplied by Bread Spread Ltd, because of serious food safety risks.
“A list of identified affected products can be found on Food.gov.uk.
“If further products are identified, we will update the alert.
![Bread Spread are based in Balfour Business Centre, Southall in England.](https://news.stv.tv/wp-content/themes/stvnews/static/images/fallback.png)
“If you have any of the products listed or any other chilled or ready-to-eat foods from this business, do not eat them and instead, dispose of them safely.
“This is because listeria has been found in some products and the items are subject to a number of hygiene and traceability contraventions which makes them unsafe to eat.
“If you are unsure as to whether a product you have could be from the business, you should contact the retailer where you purchased the product.”
Details on how to report a food safety or hygiene issue to the local authority can be found here.
STV News has contacted Bread Spread for comment.
How can the products be linked to meningitis?
The presence of Listeria monocytogenes has been found in the products, making them unsafe to eat.
Symptoms caused by the bacteria can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle aches or pain, chills, vomiting and diarrhoea.
In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications such as meningitis.
People over the age of 65, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and immunocompromised people are more vulnerable to listeria infections.
Which products are deemed unsafe to eat?
All sizes and all packs coded up to and including May 18 2024 are affected.
- Tuna sweetcorn French stick
- Ham cheese French stick
- Egg sausage sandwich
- Chicken tikka sandwich
- Chicken salad sandwich
- Chicken sweetcorn sandwich
- Ham cheese sandwich
- Cheese ploughman sandwich
- Chicken may soft roll
- Tuna sweetcorn soft roll
- Egg mayo soft roll
- Ham cheese torpedo
- Chicken tikka French stick
- Tuna sweetcorn torpedo
- Chicken bacon twist
- Egg mayo torpedo
- Cheese onion soft roll
- Chicken tikka soft roll
- Chicken sweetcorn French stick
- Chicken salad sandwich
- Chicken sweetcorn baguette
- Egg mayo sausage baguette
- Tuna sweetcorn torpedo
- Chicken mayo torpedo
- Tuna sweetcorn twist
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