Big name UK supermarket issues food recall over 'undeclared allergens' in popular ready meal
Rachael Davis
Featured Image Credit: Joff Lee/Getty Images
Allergens are a growing health concern, with more people developing food allergies as the years go by.
Coming into contact with an allergen can be a massive health risk to allergy sufferers, with the most severe cases resulting in anaphylaxis. The condition essentially sees your immune system overreact to the allergen, with the outsized immune response having a major impact on your organs.
If it goes untreated with an epinephrine injector, it can be fatal. Time is of the essence, and in the case of an anaphylactic episode it’s important to call and ambulance right away.
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Common allergens include nuts, celery, shellfish and molluscs, gluten, eggs, sulphites, sesame and soya, and the latter two have spurred an urgent recall by Waitrose.
The supermarket chain has announced it’s recalling the Waitrose Indian Takeaway for 2 over incorrectly-included products.
Waitrose’s Indian Takeaway box typically contains Bombay potatoes, pilau rice, chicken tikka masala, chicken korma, two plain naans, and four onion bhajis, but a batch has been mistakenly packed with spring rolls containing sesame and soya.
As these allergens aren’t mentioned on the box’s labelling, it poses a significant risk to any soya and sesame allergen sufferers.
“Waitrose and Partners is recalling the above product from customers and has been advised to contact the relevant allergy support organisations, which will tell their members about the recall,” the company said in a statement.
“The company has also issued a recall notice to its customers, which explains to customers why the product is being recalled and tells them what to do if they have bought the product. Please see the attached notice.”
It continued: “If you have bought the above product and have an allergy to sesame and/or soya, do not eat it. Instead, return it to your local Waitrose and Partners branch for a full refund. Please contact Waitrose Customer Care on 0800 188 884, option 4, for further information.
“We apologise that it has been necessary to recall this product and for the inconvenience caused,” said a Waitrose spokesperson, per Yahoo.
Product recalls of this nature require immediate suspension of sale, withdrawal from shelves, and a broad request for customers to return affected products.
Missing ingredient information can have deadly consequences, as was the case for an allergy sufferer in 2016 who tragically died after eating a Pret a Manger baguette that included unlabelled sesame. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, was injected with two Epi-Pens by her father, but the reaction was so severe that she passed away within hours of the exposure.