Salmonella scare sparks hummus recall

A salmonella scare has sparked the recall of hummus stocked in a wide range of supermarkets.

The recall is for 17 products at chains such as Aldi, Morrisons, Lidl, Asda and Sainsbury's. It also applies to a Nando's branded product.

The products have use-by dates ranging from 31 October to 7 November.

The Food Standards Agency said: "Zorba Delicacies Limited is recalling various brands and flavours of hummus because the products may contain salmonella."

A spokesman for Zorba Delicacies said salmonella had been found in a "limited volume" of hummus and said this was the first product recall for salmonella in its 15 years of operation.

The FSA said that symptoms caused by salmonella usually include fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps.

Discount retailer Aldi was among the chains to tweet about the issue on Thursday.

• Hummus crisis? What hummus crisis?

"We have recalled this product due to it not meeting our high quality standards. Customers should return the product to their nearest store, where they will receive a full refund. We apologise for any inconvenience," Aldi said.

A spokesman for Zorba Delicacies said: "The company maintains thorough procedures for the sourcing, use and testing of all products including independent laboratory testing. The frequency of product testing goes way beyond the minimum standards set for the industry.

"The issue was identified during our testing procedure and root cause analysis has quickly pinpointed the likely source as being from a batch of ingredient supplied by a third party."

The company said it had immediately told the FSA about the matter. It said none of its other products were affected, and subsequent production has not identified any issues.

The FSA issued information about the recall on 29 October.

"Point of sale notices will be displayed in all retail stores that are selling these products. These notices explain to customers why the products are being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product," the FSA said.

Two years ago, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer withdrew parts of their hummus ranges from stores because of a "production issue".

At the time, it led to social media hysteria over the Middle Eastern dip.

Britain consumes about 12,000 tonnes a year of the dip, which is usually made of cooked and mashed chick peas, tahini (sesame paste), lemon and garlic.