Do not eat! Sainsbury’s recalls cheese over salmonella fears

Sainsbury’s has urgently recalled one of its own-brand cheeses from shelves over salmonella fears. 

Food safety watchdogs stuck a ‘do not eat’ alert on three separate batches of the supermarket’s Mexican Style Chilli Cheddar. 

It is feared the cheese has been contaminated and ‘may contain’ the bacteria.  

The nasty bug — which can trigger serious illness — usually causes a fever, sickness and diarrhoea. 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) – which published the alert – issues food recalls when problems are spotted with food that means it should not be sold.

Sainsbury’s said its recall of its 200g Mexican style cheese was a ‘precautionary measure’. It impacts three batches of the cheddar, with best before dates of June 12, 2023, June 22, 2023 and June 30, 2023. It said: ‘If you have bought one of the affected batches of this product, we advise you not to open or consume it.’ For a full refund return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund, the supermarket advised

Salmonella are a group of bacteria that infect the gut. It is often triggered by contaminated food or water. Symptoms of infection include diarrhea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever. On average, it takes from 12 to 72 hours for the symptoms to develop after swallowing an infectious dose of salmonella. Pictured, a culture of salmonella bacteria 

Sainsbury’s said its recall of its 200g Mexican style cheese was a ‘precautionary measure’. 

It impacts the batches of the cheddar, with best before dates of June 12, 2023, June 22, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

It said: ‘If you have bought one of the affected batches of this product, we advise you not to open or consume it.’

For a full refund return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund, the supermarket advised. 

Salmonella are a group of bacteria that infect the gut. It is often triggered by contaminated food or water. 

Symptoms of infection include diarrhea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever.

On average, it takes from 12 to 72 hours for the symptoms to develop after swallowing an infectious dose of salmonella.

They usually last for four to seven days and most people recover without treatment.

But if you become seriously ill, you may need hospital care because the dehydration caused by the illness can be life-threatening.  

It comes as more than 30 varieties of cheese have been pulled from shelves in recent weeks over listeria fears.

The concern over the affected cheeses has sparked fresh warnings over the risks of consuming products made from raw milk, which can contain a host of bacteria. 

The bacteria first hit the headlines in March after the FSA and UK Health Security Agency said that they had initially detected three listeria cases ‘potentially linked to an outbreak’.

All of those infected had a closely genetically related strain of listeria that has also been found in samples of Baronet cheese made by Wiltshire-based The Old Cheese Room.

Yesterday the FSA also rang alarm bells over Itsu’s frozen chocolate bao buns – stocked in Tesco and Waitrose – over fears it may contain milk, which isn’t mentioned on its label. 

The watchdog issued with a ‘do not eat’ alert over fears two batches of the buns might pose a risk to those who are allergic or intolerant to milk. 

The recall affects the 180g packs of four buns with best before dates of December 14, 2023 and February 8, 2024. 

The FSA also issued another recall for two of dog food producer Lily’s Kitchen’s products.

Its ‘Fishy Fish Pie’ and ‘Chicken and Turkey Casserole’, stocked in Pets at Home have been pulled over warnings they may contain pieces of plastic.