 Warning to cook frozen veg thoroughly |
A frozen veg product
recall is ongoing following 47 cases of listeriosis and nine deaths since 2015.
The source of the
Listeria monocytogenes has been traced back to a Greenyard plant in Baja, Hungary,
and had been linked to frozen sweetcorn but it is now thought other veg may
also be involved.
Previously believed
to have only affected the UK, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, earlier
this week there were reports that the contaminated frozen veg has reached
Australia and New Zealand where there is also a recall ongoing.
The Hungarian plant
supplied a range of brands as well as supermarkets own labels in the UK
including Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, and Aldi.
The FSA said it
became involved in February after it became identified as an outbreak and
started to work alongside PHE.
Originally the FSA
issued guidance emphasising the importance of cooking frozen veg thoroughly,
which would kill the bacteria, and to follow good food hygiene.
An FSA spokesperson
said: ‘We didn’t initiate the product recall, we simply helped publicise it
once the company decided to issue one.
‘We felt prior to
the recall that cooking instructions were clear. Product recalls in other
countries in Europe were either voluntary or there were concerns around cooking
instructions.’
A report by the
European Food Safety Authority said the exact point – or points – or stage in
the production at the Hungarian plant where the contamination took place has
not yet been identified and that further sampling was needed.
However, the same
outbreak strain has been identified in frozen spinach and frozen green beans at
the plant. This strain has been found across 2016,207, and 2018 seasons of
vegetable products.
The report said
this: ‘suggests that this strain could be persisting in the environment of the
processing plant after standard cleaning and disinfection procedures carried
out during periods of no production activity and the rotation of the processed
products.
‘Moreover, the use
of the contaminated production lines for several food products may represent an
additional risk for potential cross-contamination of the various final products
processed at the plant.’
In June Greenyard
stopped freezing and closed the plant and no produce from 2018 has been put on
sale. It has started to source alternative supplies.
Eleven out of 26
patients interviewed - from the UK, Denmark, Finland and Sweden - reported eating
frozen or non-frozen sweetcorn.
Of the 15 remaining
cases that didn’t eat frozen or non-frozen sweetcorn, two said they had eaten
non-frozen mixed vegetables.
Three people said
they had not eaten any corn or mixed vegetables and six people said they didn’t
know. Four people said they probably had not eaten corn and one of these said
they might possibly have eaten frozen vegetables.
For a list of
recalled products click here:
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-35-2018