Frozen vegetables recalled over listeria risk

Following the recent outbreak of listeria in Europe, a number of major UK supermarkets have announced that they will have to recall some of their frozen vegetable products. There are concerns that these products could be contaminated with the bacteria and the public need to be protected. Products in six of the biggest supermarkets are affected.

What are the concerns?

The recent outbreak of listeria in Europe is a massive and ongoing concern. So, far, there have been 47 confirmed cases, nine of which were fatal. Health organisations have warned that it could be linked to frozen vegetables. Last week, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a list of at risk products. The products were distributed by Belgium based supplier, Greenyear Frozen.

The FSA said in a statement that Greenyard “has taken the precautionary step of voluntarily recalling various frozen vegetable products because they might contain Listeria monocytogenes”. It added that “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”.

Which products are affected?

The affected products are being sold at six of the UK’s largest and most popular supermarkets. It includes packets of frozen vegetables like sweetcorn and mixed vegetables.

The products that have been recalled are:

Pinguin frozen Sweetcorn

Tesco frozen Broccoli, Carrot and Sweetcorn Steamer

Tesco frozen Every Day Value Sweetcorn

Ross Mixed Vegetables

One Stop frozen Sweetcorn

Aldi Four Seasons frozen Vegetable Steamers

Aldi Frozen Four Seasons Mixed Vegetables

Pinguin Sweetcorn

Aldi Four Seasons Supersweet Sweetcorn

Waitrose Essential Supersweet Sweetcorn

Waitrose Essential Mixed Vegetable

Tesco frozen Mixed Vegetables

Waitrose Fine Cut Vegetable Steamer

Waitrose Love Life Vegetable Medley Steamers

Sainsbury’s frozen Special Mixed Vegetables

Growers Pride Mixed Vegetables

Sainsbury’s frozen Basic Mixed Vegetables

Sainsbury’s frozen Rice Broccoli and Sweetcorn

Tesco Frozen Growers Harvest Carrot Peas and Sweetcorn Steamer

Tesco Frozen Growers Harvest Mixed Vegetables

Sainsbury’s frozen Mixed Vegetables

Sainsbury’s frozen Carrot Broccoli and Sweetcorn

Lidl frozen Green Grocer Supersweet Corn

Tesco Growers Harvest frozen Mixed Vegetables

Lidl frozen Freshona Vegetable Mix

Iceland frozen Mixed Vegetables

Pinguin frozen Mixed Vegetables

Independent Mix Vegetables

Ross Mixed Vegetables

Pinguin Mixed Vegetable

Pinguin frozen Cut Beans

Growers Pride Mixed Vegetables

Ross Mixed Country Vegetables

Growers Pride Supersweet Sweetcorn

Pinguin frozen Golden Rice and Vegetables

Growers Pride Supersweet Sweetcorn

Ross Sweetcorn

Tesco Frozen Sweetcorn

Tesco frozen Mixed Vegetables and Peppers

Tesco Broccoli Frozen Sweetcorn Peas and Spinach Steamer

 

It’s suspected that these products could contain Listeria monocytogenes which can lead to listeriosis. The FSA advice to anyone who has already purchased the products is to not eat them and return them to the supermarket that they were purchased at.