Tesco and Morrisons are withdrawing a small number of products from their shelves after foods containing contaminated liquid egg were sold in some British supermarkets. Skip related content
RELATED PHOTOS
Contaminated European Eggs Sent To The UK
Contaminated European Eggs Sent To The UK Play video Supermarkets Withdraw Foods Over Egg Fears Enlarge photo Contaminated European Eggs Sent To The UK Enlarge photo
RELATED CONTENT
Video: Contaminated European Eggs Sent To The UK
It comes after the Food Standards Agency confirmed that contaminated liquid egg from Europe had entered the UK food supply but insisted the health risk was "very low".
In a statement Tesco said: "We would like to stress to customers that this is a purely precautionary measure and the FSA has stated there is no food safety risk."
:: See the bottom of this article for the full list of products.
According to the FSA, the liquified egg has been supplied to Kensey Foods in Cornwall, a division of Samworth Brothers, and Memory Lane Cakes Ltd in Cardiff, a division of the Finsbury Food Group.
Both food manufacturers used it to produce a range of short shelf life cakes and quiches, which were then supplied to supermarkets throughout the UK.
The FSA was unable to provide a definitive list of the supermarkets that sold the products.
A spokesperson for the FSA said: "There is no food safety risk from eating these products.
"The majority of products will have been sold and most have passed their 'use by' or 'best before' dates.
"Supermarkets are removing the small amount of products that are still in date."
Public health officials are now trying to determine if and how the liquid egg has entered the food chain.
The alert came after it was discovered that poultry feed contaminated by dioxin, a by-product of burning rubbish and other industrial activities, was sent to more than 1,000 poultry and pig farms in Germany.
Some of the eggs from those farms were then transported to the Netherlands.
"These eggs were mixed with other non-contaminated eggs to make pasteurised liquid egg. This pasteurised liquid egg has been distributed to the UK," the FSA said.
"The mixing of the eggs will have diluted the levels of dioxins and they are not thought to be a risk to health.
"The FSA is currently liaising with the industry and will provide further updates as information becomes available."
European Commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent described how the problem had now reached Britain.
He said: "Those eggs were... processed and then exported to the United Kingdom... as a 14-ton consignment of pasteurised product for consumption."
The problem appears to have originated when oils intended for bio-fuel became mixed with oil destined for animal feed.
The dioxin was discovered in late December but the extent of the problem was only revealed this week when German officials said 3,000 tons of feed were affected.
German police raided Harles und Jentzsch, the firm alleged to have supplied ingredients to around 25 feed makers, on Wednesday.
Dioxins have been shown to contribute to higher cancer rates and affect pregnant women.
Tesco's withdrawn products are: Tesco Caterpillar Cake - Best Before 10/01/11, Tesco Coconut Sponge 5.5" - Best Before 15/01/11, Tesco Raspberry Sponge 5.5"- Best Before 07/01/11, Tesco Value Raspberry Sponge 5.5" - Best Before 13/01/11, 15/01/11, Tesco Vanilla Party Tray Bake - Best Before 11/01/11, Tesco Christmas Chocolate Tray Bake - Best Before 07/01/11, Tesco Chocolate Sponge Cake - Best Before 10/01/11, 15/01/11, Tesco Victoria Sponge Cake - Best Before 12/01/11, 13/01/11, 15/01/11.
Morrisons' withdrawn products are: Caterpillar Cake 18 Jan; Chocolate Tray Bake 10 Jan; Mini Roll Bites (Cakeshop) 10 Jan, 17 Jan, 20 Jan; Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake 13 Jan, 15 Jan, 18 Jan, 19 Jan, 25 Jan; Vanilla Tray Bake 11 Jan, 26 Jan; Value Raspberry Sponge 12 Jan, 17 Jan, 20 Jan.
Please note, only the date codes listed are affected.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=36218.0
