Spar chicken pulled from shelves over fears it could cause meningitis

Chicken products have been pulled from the supermarket shelves over fears they could cause meningitis.

Spar Northern Ireland is recalling several chicken products because Listeria monocytogenes – a pathogenic bacteria – has been found in them.

The notice, issued through the Food Standards Agency, affects SPAR Enjoy Local Cooked Chicken Pieces and Spar Enjoy Local Cooked Chicken Slices.

Both products are 150g in pack size, have batch code 5126, and have a best-before date of May 21, 2025.

Spar Enjoy Local Cooked Chicken Fillets, with a pack size of 300g and the same best-before date, are also affected.

Symptoms caused by this organism can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.

However, in rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications, such as meningitis.

Some people are more vulnerable to listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and people with weakened immune systems.

Point of sale notices will be displayed where the products are sold in Northern Ireland.

A Spar statement read: “This recall issue affects three specific ‘Enjoy Local Cooked Chicken’ lines which are only stocked by the Henderson Group in SPAR Northern Ireland.

“The supplier and Hendersons have worked directly with the Food Standards Agency and the affected stores in NI to initiate the product recall as quickly as possible.

“No SPAR UK stores in England, Scotland or Wales are affected by this recall or any other SPAR products beyond those identified in the FSA announcement.”

This article has been updated to reflect a correction issued by the Food Standards Agency. The original warning was issued covering the whole of the UK, but this has been updated to only cover Spar Northern Ireland.