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M&S hit by salmonella scare

16/02/2007

Retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) has removed houmous products from its shelves following the detection of salmonella in two of its products.

The chain has said that while conducting "routine microbiological testing" salmonella was detected in piquillo pepper-topped houmous and reduced-fat houmous, both of which have a use-by date of February 15th.

M&S removed the products from sale as soon as the traces of salmonella were discovered and have informed the Food Standards Agency of the findings.

Furthermore the company announced it has removed all unaffected houmous products from its shelves as an "extreme precaution".

A statement from the chain said: "The tests used are highly sensitive, which means that a very low level of salmonella can be detected which may be too low to cause any illness."

No customers have reported illness as a result of the houmous products.

M&S are now "conducting a thorough investigation with our supplier to find out how this has happened".

Customers who have any M&S houmous product can return it to the store for a full refund.

Last year a salmonella scare at confectionary firm Cadbury led to the recall of one million chocolate bars. Current estimations of the cost of the recall stand at around £20 million.

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