Contamination of Aconbury Sprouts brand, alfalfa products with salmonella

Thursday 15 July 2004

Category B: For action

Ref: 30/2004 (England) 31/2004 (Scotland)

Three products containing alfalfa sprouts produced by Aconbury Sprouts, of Pontrilas, in Herefordshire may be contaminated with Salmonella and are being withdrawn by the company on a precautionary basis.

The products have been distributed throughout the UK to wholesalers and retailers and are likely to be sold in health food shops.

The company has undertaken a trade withdrawal of the affected products which are:

• Alfalfa Sprouts (115g)
• Alfalfa and Broccoli Sprouts (113g - 4oz)
• Alfalfa and Radish Sprouts (115g)

All the affected products will bear the Best Before dates of either 21 July, 24 July or 28 July

No other Aconbury Sprouts products or other batches of these products are known to be affected

Identification of the product
All three products are sold in clear plastic bags. The Alfalfa Sprouts and Alfalfa and Radish Sprouts have a white diamond shaped label with green writing on, including the name ‘Aconbury Sprouts’ at the top, the words ‘organically grown’ and then the name of the product in red. The label also bears the weight of the product (115g), nutritional information, the Soil Association accreditation logo and the Best Before date.

The Alfalfa and Broccoli Sprouts have a white square label with a picture of a rabbit and the words ‘Aconbury Sprouts’ above the words ‘Alfalfa and Broccoli Sprouts’ and ‘organically grown’ . The label also bears the weight (113g 4oz), some nutritional information, the name and address of the company and the Best Before date.

To assist local authorities in the correct identification of the products, pictures of the labels of these products are available at the foot of this page.

Action to be taken by local authorities
The manufacturer has undertaken a trade withdrawal of the products and has contacted the primary customers. It is unclear how effective the withdrawal has been in disseminating the message onto secondary customers of these businesses. Local authorities that have any of these businesses in their area are therefore requested to contact these companies to ascertain that they have received the trade withdrawal notice from Aconbury Sprouts and have in turn contacted their retail customers.

If the product is found it should be removed from sale and returned to the supplier for a credit refund and destroyed.

Actions taken by the Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency has issued a press release to regional newspapers to alert consumers to the problem.

It is expected that action by local authorities will be initiated as soon as possible after receipt of this food hazard warning.