October's food alerts: what they mean for your kitchen

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) publishes three kinds of alert. A Product Recall Information Notice tells the public that a product is being recalled and what to do if you have bought it. An Allergy Alert covers an allergen problem, such as an allergen missing from the label or labelled wrongly. A Food Alert for Action is used when the FSA needs local authorities to step in. It sets out the action food businesses are asked to take, and local authorities check that it is done.

It is worth checking often, or signing up to the FSA's free food and allergy alerts by email, because the product in an alert may be sitting in your fridge or on a delivery note. Here is what the FSA published in the first part of October.

On 10 October the FSA issued a Food Alert for Action for raw shell-on eggs with the code 3UA1012066, from Yasensvit Ltd, Kyiv, Ukraine. The FSA says Salmonella has been found in some of the eggs supplied by this establishment. It covers all pack sizes and all best before dates, in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The FSA advises businesses to:

• check their egg supply chain and the codes stamped on eggs within their control
• immediately stop using or selling eggs with the stamp 3UA1012066
• withdraw the product from the market, and recall it from customers where there have been retail sales
• dispose of any supplied eggs safely
• not divert these eggs to further processing

The FSA says these eggs are not sold in large retailers such as supermarkets: most are used within the catering supply chain, though some may also be sold at small shops such as corner shops. The FSA has not named any UK supplier or wholesaler. Eggs may have been repacked by other UK businesses, so the business details and packing centre codes on the outer packaging may differ. Food Standards Scotland has issued the same warning in Scotland.

Read the full FSA notice   Food Standards Scotland notice

On 8 October Greencore recalled five products because Salmonella was found in pistachio nuts used as an ingredient. The FSA lists them as:

• Pinch Pan Poppin' Chicken Pasanda & Nutty Pilau Rice (400g)
• Pinch Bangin' Butter Chicken & Nutty Pilau Rice (400g)
• M&S Super Nutty Wholefood with a Soy & Ginger Dressing (200g)
• M&S Nutrient Dense Nutty Super Wholefood (285g)
• M&S Fresh Collection Pistachio Pesto (115g)

The two Pinch meals are sold only through Tesco; the other three are M&S products, which were also recalled in Ireland. The FSA says only the displayed date codes are affected, and gives the use-by dates in the notice.

Read the full FSA notice

Pot Noodle Piri Piri Chicken Flavour - undeclared milk

On 2 October Unilever recalled Pot Noodle Piri Piri Chicken Flavour (90g, batch code L6232PB796, best before May 2027) because it contains milk that is not declared on the label. FSA notice

Lambertz biscuits - allergens not declared in English

On 3 October Lambertz recalled Lambertz Mini Spekulatius and Christmas Tree Cookies, sold in Home Bargains stores, because allergens are not declared in English on the label. FSA notice

None of this is complicated, and none of it replaces what the notice itself says.

• Look at the code stamped on the eggs themselves, not just the carton or tray label, and compare it with the code in the alert. Repacked eggs may carry different packing details.
• Check recent delivery notes and stock against the product names, codes and dates in each notice.
• Keep supplier and batch information, so you can tell quickly what came in and from whom.
• Follow the FSA's instructions in each notice. They differ from one alert to the next.
• When a supplier product is recalled for an allergen, review the allergen information for any dish that uses it.
• Write down what you found and what you did, with the date.

We keep a live list of current FSA alerts at chefsrecords.com/food-alerts/. The ChefsRecords app does not track or send recall alerts. What it does is help you keep the records you would want to hand when you check: deliveries recorded with the supplier, stock with use-by dates, and incidents with corrective actions.