Urgent food alert: Multiple popular Centra and Supervalu products contaminated in recall covering all of Northern Ireland
Centra and SuperValu have issued urgent recalls of some of their popular seafood products after harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness was found.
Several salmon and prawn cocktail packages found in both supermarkets are to be returned, the UK’s Food Safety Agency has said, in an alert covering all of Northern Ireland that was published this afternoon.
Anyone who bought Centra’s 100g BBQ salmon or 100g smoked salmon, as well as the 80g applewood smoked salmon and 180g Wild Atlantic prawn cocktail found in its ‘Inspired by Centra’ range, should return them to stores for a refund.
SuperValu’s 100g BBQ smoked salmon, 100g smoked salmon and 180g prawn cocktail are also affected, as are the 100g applewood smoked salmon and 180g prawn cocktail in its ‘Signature Taste’ line.
All of those products bearing any use-by date have been recalled after listeria monocytogenes were found – harmful bacteria that can lead to severe infections.
Symptoms caused by listeria can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.
In rare cases it can be more severe, however, 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.
A recall notice posted by both stores states: “If you have purchased [one of these products] do not eat. Please return it to your nearest store, where you will be issued with a refund.
“We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your co-operation.”
Point of sale notices are also being set up in all retail stores that have been selling the contaminated salmon and prawn cocktail packages, explaining to customers why the products are being recalled and tell them what to do if they bought the products.
Alerts for a range of seafood products from the same two companies have been issued by Republic of Ireland food safety authorities twice in the space of a week.
On October 14, Irish authorities released an alert on smoked salmon from both supermarkets, while a second recall covering a wide range of fish and prawn cocktail products was issued in the Republic on Tuesday.