Ritika Janiya
You reach in for that favorite BBQ sauce to dip a chip, or a sprinkle of curry powder to add some extra flavor to your food. What happens is that you get a message subsequently stating that it may contain peanuts when you did not even expect it to. That has been the case with this recent food recall where all the attention has been around it.
Over 20 products-from dips to seasonings and curry powders-have been pulled from store shelves because they might contain peanuts undesignated on the label. For those with peanut allergies, it can be a big problem. Peanut allergies are serious and can result in dangerous health issues if a person eats something without knowing that peanuts are in it.
The recall has been issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), located in the UK. FSA says that food should be safe for consumption, and the products recalled under this notice were supplied by FGS Ingredients Ltd, a company headquartered in Leicester. This step the FSA takes with a cautious approach, meaning that they will leave nothing to chance where human health is taken into consideration though it’s still the investigation process.
Which Products Are Being Recalled?
Which products are removed off shelves? The list covered some of the most recognizable products many consumers could currently hold in their kitchen. Some of them are:
Domino’s BBQ Dip: This ranks remains one of the fan favorites when it comes to using them to dip pizzas and snacks.
Favourit and Dunnes Stores Seasonings and Curry Powders: These have always been the products widely used to add flavour to various other meals.
Westmorland Family Butchery Sausages and Burgers: Even these meaty treats have been affected.
All of these items would have trace amounts of peanuts in them, and nothing on the packaging lets anyone know that. So if a peanut allergy sufferer happened to be consuming one of these products, they could end up getting very sick.
A Repeat Recall – What’s the Deal?
The recall is not the first for the company, FGS Ingredients. It was just some weeks ago when another recall came about involving the same company due to possible contamination of peanuts. Back then, FGS Ingredients said they were still running tests to determine how and where contamination happened. They mentioned trying their best to understand the origin of the problem and how it could be corrected.
It has been testing all its ingredients since the last recall. Even last month, they claimed that their tests did not detect any peanuts in their ingredients. However, since this poses a health risk, they told the stores and customers to remove those affected products from the shelves as a precautionary measure.
Peanuts in Mustard? It Could Happen!
One of the difficult things associated with this recall is how peanuts could be sneaking into products that do not normally contain them. For example, product lines containing mustard have also been included in this recall. For example, peanut paste has been added to various dips, sauces, salads, and even to pre-packed sandwiches with mustard. Most people never even think that peanuts could be included in mustard, but it goes to show that sometimes ingredients in food can just be mixed together.
According to the FSA, they are working hard with FGS Ingredients to figure out what is going on. FGS Ingredients said that such a thing has never occurred in this company before and had been cooperating fully with the investigation in finding out how peanuts penetrated into products that were not supposed to have them.
What Should You Do If You Buy Such Products?
So, what do you do if you already have one of these items? Don’t worry! FSA has clearly stipulated what they want you to do. They want those all those products recalled to be returned to the shop or retailer where you bought it. And the best part about this is? You will get your money back full. Your receipt is irrelevant- whether you still have it or not, you may return it without any hassle.
Moreover, shops where the products are sold will post notices to inform in-store customers of the recall. Such a notice may include the reason behind the recall and what to do if the product has already been bought.
How Can You Stay Safe?
If you, or someone living with you, have a peanut allergy, then you must read the labels on all your foodstuffs. These are peanuts had been left out, but it is useful to know what you and your family consume: a recall by companies such as FGS Ingredients as they want people to be safe, and they are acting appropriately in this situation.
It also serves as a warning to the food industry that they have a great responsibility: deal safely with food. The work of the FSA is to monitor the situation and ensure that the food available in the market is safe to consume; it’s all of our duty, however, to remain as informed as possible and cautious of what we eat.
What’s Next for FGS Ingredients?
FGS Ingredients is still researching how peanuts ended up in its products today. It works hand-in-hand with the FSA to identify the source of the contamination and makes sure it does not happen again. So far, the company has not confirmed exactly how this happened, but they are indeed taking the matter very seriously and using every available mechanism to correct the problem.
Meanwhile, customers must be alert to other updates of the FSA. If other products will also be recalled, then definitely, the FSA will notify everybody about this problem. For now, what could be done is returning of any of the recalled items and being safe.
