Sainsbury’s recalls sultanas over salmonella fears


  • Affects 500g packs of Organic Sultanas bought in past five months
  • Routine testing revealed ‘low level incidence’ of salmonella
  • Customers advised not to eat the product and return it for full refund

By
Anna Hodgekiss

07:11 EST, 18 April 2014

|

14:30 EST, 18 April 2014

Sainsbury’s has recalled 500g packets of So Organic Sultanas bought over the past five months

Sainsbury’s has recalled thousands of bags of sultanas after tests showed some packets were infected with potentially fatal salmonella.

The supermarket giant, which has more than 1,000 stores in the UK, yesterday sent out emails to customers who had bought 500g packets of Sainsbury’s Organic Sultanas over the past five months.

Father-of-two Chris Dennis, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said he was sent an email by Sainsbury’s yesterday after he bought a bag of the affected sultanas earlier this month.

He said: ‘If Sainsbury’s didn’t have my email from online shopping, how would they have known to contact me?

‘I have a young daughter and son who adore sultanas and you’d think that by buying organic, you would be doing the best for your children.

‘Luckily we hadn’t opened the packet yet, so we know we are safe, but what about all the thousands of people who have had them in their cupboards for the past five months and don’t know about the salmonella scare?’

The email sent to Mr Dennis, 38, from Sainsbury’s reads: ‘We understand from our records that you have bought Sainsbury’s Organic Sultanas 500g in the last five months.

‘During routine testing it has come to our attention that a low level incidence of Salmonella has been found in this product.

‘The safety of our customers is extremely important to us and as a precautionary measure, we are asking all customers who have bought this product not to consume it and to return it to their nearest Sainsbury’s store where they will receive a full refund.

Customers who have bought the sultanas have been advised not to consume them and to return them to their nearest Sainsbury’s store for a refund

HOW TO DEAL WITH SALMONELLA

Anyone can get salmonella, but young children, the elderly and people whose immune systems are not working properly have a greater risk of becoming severely ill.

Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever.

These symptoms usually last for four to seven days and clear up without treatment, but if you become seriously ill you may need to be treated for dehydration (fluid loss) caused by the illness.

Transmission occurs by eating contaminated food, mainly of animal origin, or by faecal contamination from an infected person or animal.

‘I can confirm that we have removed all the affected products from our stores and no other products are affected in this way.

‘If you have any questions please call our Careline on 0800 636 262. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.’

The Public Health England website states: “Anyone can get salmonella, but young children, the elderly and people whose immune systems are not working properly have a greater risk of becoming severely ill.

‘Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever.

‘These symptoms usually last for four to seven days and clear up without treatment, but if you become seriously ill you may need to be treated for dehydration (fluid loss) caused by the illness.

‘Transmission occurs by eating contaminated food, mainly of animal origin, or by faecal contamination from an infected person or animal.’

Comments (29)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

ken mist,

paris,

1 hour ago

organic food means not using chemicals that kill off things like salmonella

– lisa3, london, 18/04/2014 17:23

Organic food also means that all sorts of things can get into foods from the environment

ken mist,

paris,

1 hour ago

Fatalities from Non-Typhoid Salmonella are RARE. Ill people, old people or VERY young children are at risk from ordinary strains but they are also at risk fro getting infections in general dven from their own family members.

Sultanas are generally sun-dried and come from all around the mediterranean area and elsewhere. Sun drying is cheap but it does mean they are at risk from contamination by birds and their droppings and from environmental dust.

It doesn’t happen often but it does happen and JS were lucky to detect it because it probably goes undetected 9/10 times simply because the high sugar levels arent favorable for growth in the early stages of lab tests.

Good one JS! But it means a few changes in methods I think.

Bonnie,

Johannesburg,

1 hour ago

Is it because of rats excreting all over the place again?

lisa3,

london,

4 hours ago

organic food means not using chemicals that kill off things like salmonella

Uncle Bill,

Weilheim OB, Germany,

1 hour ago

I think that the odd rare occurrence of ‘the trots’ is preferable to slowly poisoning myself and being weaker in old age. Have you any idea of the wonderful mixture of growth agents and pesticides that goes on crops these days to achieve maximum yield?

bigben,

london,

4 hours ago

I’m sure some of the uneaten sultanas would have been binned by now customers as they would have passed their best before date. I love to give my birds a bit of the left over bread crumbs, cereal and sultanas as a treat and I hope they are alright.

AGPCUK,

Bournemouth, United Kingdom,

5 hours ago

You could expect Salmonella from meat but not fruit unless fruit pickers aren’t washing their hands.

Alex,

Sussex, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

Or rabbit droppings?

anng53,

cheshire, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

I would never have imagined you could get salmonella from sultanas,i am going to read up on this and other foods to.

Lauren,

Australia,

6 hours ago

How does a sultana get salmonella?

Doolally Sally,

WINDSOR, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

I wouldn’t buy organic food even if you paid me to.

Uncle Bill,

Weilheim OB, Germany,

1 hour ago

Sorry, but you have to have a reason, and we’d like to read it.

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