Officials in the United Kingdom are looking into an E. coli outbreak linked to chili sticks that has affected five people.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are investigating the outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157 with five cases. Four sick people live in England and one in Scotland.
One person was hospitalized with illness linked to products from a Christmas market. Ongoing enquiries are concentrating on the supply of beef mince used in the product.
At the end of December 2023, Chiltern Artisan recalled its chili sticks because E. coli had been found in some of the products. The use-by date is also not always displayed on the packaging, according to the recall notice.
In December, Chiltern Artisan issued a statement for people who had bought its chili snap sticks between Oct. 14 and Dec. 24, 2023.
According to a message sent to the firm from an environmental health officer at Buckinghamshire Council, none of the patients were known to have consumed chili sticks or have any known links to Chiltern Artisan and spice samples were negative.
FoodWorld 