HCPA has spotted this BBC News article and wanted to share this important information. You and your staff will need you to be vigilant, check your food stocks in residential services, but also advise those you support at home about the dangers.

According to the BBC, supermarkets have recalled bags of frozen vegetables over fears they could contain a deadly bacteria. 43 sweetcorn-based products have been withdrawn by a major supermarket supplier Greenyard Frozen UK voluntarily.

The Food Standards Agency stated that the veg may contain listeria monocytogenes which can cause listeriosis, a rare illness responsible for the death of two people in the UK last year.

Own-brand products for Tesco, Aldi and Sainsbury’s are among those affected.

A list of the 43 products recalled from UK supermarkets, which also include some from Lidl, Iceland and Waitrose, has been posted on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.

» You can find the list here

Although the FSA said the recall was a “precautionary measure”, it also advised anyone who has bought the products to not eat them and to “return the product to the store from where it was bought for a full refund”.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 11 people in the UK have been affected by listeriosis since 2015, including two people who died last year.

Symptoms caused by listeria can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea. Some people are more vulnerable to listeria infections, especially those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and people with weakened immune systems.

To sign up for the Food Standards Agency alerts, please visit their website here.