UK – Update 1: AB World Foods Ltd recalls Al’Fez Natural Tahini because of contamination with Salmonella

FSA

AB World Foods Ltd is recalling Al’Fez Natural Tahini because Salmonella has been found in the product. This product recall has been extended to include more ‘best before end’ dates and an additional pack size. This replaces the previous alert.

Product details

Al’Fez Natural Tahini
Pack size 160g and 270g
Best before All date codes between July 2024 and December 2025

Risk statement

Salmonella has been found in the product listed above.

Symptoms caused by salmonella usually include fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps.

Action taken by the company

AB World Foods is recalling the above product. Point of sale notices will be displayed in stores where the product was sold. These notices explain to customers why the product is being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product. Please see the attached recall notice.

Our advice to consumers

If you have bought the above product do not eat it. Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. If bought online and for further information, please contact the Al’Fez customer care team on 0800 0195 617 or by email at consumer.services@abworldfoods.com.

Related alerts

England – FSA’s National Food Crime Unit investigation results in a £50,000 fine for food business which faked disease certificates – falsified Salmonella testing certificates

Gov UK

Poultry farmer Stuart Perkins of SG Perkins Ltd, age 38 from Radstock, received a substantial fine at Bath Magistrates Court on Wednesday 3 July after pleading guilty to various offences under The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and the Animal Health Act 1981.

The FSA, working with partners including Avon and Somerset police, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, executed a search warrant at the poultry farm and abattoir in November 2023 and found evidence of traceability concerns and that Perkins had falsified Salmonella testing certificates.  This meant  birds had been slaughtered for the food chain without proof they were free from disease.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency supported the investigations, monitoring the welfare of the poultry on site and collecting official Salmonella samples.  The FSA acted to manage the potential food safety risk by ensuring products with traceability concerns were removed from the market.

An alert was also issued to industry by the FSA’s NFCU to ask food businesses to check the traceability of their suppliers to help ensure legitimate businesses maintain the integrity and safety of their food chains and protect their customers.

Perkins and SG Perkins Ltd was sentenced to a fine of £5000 for each FSA offence, £3500 for each local authority offence, costs amounting to £21,810.75, plus a victim surcharge of £2000, which came to a total of £50,830.75.

Belgium – Outbreaks and related illnesses down for 2023 in Belgium

Food Safety News

Figures from Belgium show the number of outbreaks and people sick in them declined in 2023.

The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain’s (FASFC) annual report reveals that 722 outbreaks were reported: 3,194 people were affected, 76 were hospitalized, and one died. This is lower than the record number in 2022, which saw 830 outbreaks, 4,247 people sick, and two deaths.

Only in six cases in 2023 could it be demonstrated that food was the cause, as food and human samples contained the same bacteria, viruses, or toxins that triggered the disease.

USA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

FDA

What’s New

  • A new outbreak of Salmonella Irumu (ref #1235) linked to a not yet identified product has been added to the table. FDA has initiated traceback.
  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses (ref #1234) linked to a not yet identified product, the case count has increased from 80 to 83.
  • For the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses (ref #1221) linked to organic walnuts, the outbreak is over, FDA’s investigation is complete, and the advisory has been updated.
Date
Ref Pathogen
or
Cause of
Illness
Product(s)
Linked to
Illnesses

(if any)
Total
Case
Count
Status Outbreak/
Event
Status
7/10/

2024

1235 Salmonella
Irumu
Not Yet
Identified
26 Active Ongoing
See
Advice
6/19/

2024

1234 Salmonella
Typhimurium
Not Yet
Identified
83 Active Ongoing
See
Advice
5/22/

2024

1227 Salmonella
Africana
&
Braenderup
Cucumbers See
Advisory
Active Ongoing
See
Advisory
5/22/

2024

1232 Listeria
monocytogenes
Not Yet
Identified
2 Active Ongoing
See
Advice

Luxembourg – Tahini natural from the AL’FEZ brand – Salmonella

SAP

Name Natural Tahini
Brand AL’FEZ
Unit 160 g
Barcode 5010338300890
Use-by date (UBD) 07/2025
Sale period from April 19, 2024

Danger  : Possible presence of Salmonella

Salmonella can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, and headache within 6 to 72 hours after consumption. These symptoms may be worse in young children, immunocompromised individuals, and the elderly. People who have consumed these products and are experiencing these symptoms are advised to consult a doctor and report their consumption.

The product can be distributed by different points of sale in Luxembourg.

Singapore – Abu Mubarak Pte Ltd fined $4,700 for multiple food safety lapses

SFA

Abu Mubarak Pte Ltd was fined $4,700 by the Court today for food safety lapses committed under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.

In April 2023, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Singapore Food Agency (SFA)
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by the food establishment located at 300 Tampines Avenue 5 #01-01A, Singapore
529653. Two were hospitalised and subsequently discharged.
3 MOH and SFA conducted a joint investigation at the licensee’s premises and
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preparation area and possession of unclean food for sale.
Cockroach infestation found underneath the hand washing sink and chiller motor compartment in the kitchen.

USA – Owner of raw milk creamery behind fatal outbreak sentenced to probation – Listeria monocytogenes

Food Safety News

A man who owned a raw milk creamery behind the deaths of two people has been sentenced to probation.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Therese Wiley Dancks in New York sentenced Johannes Vulto on July 9 to three years probation, a $100,000 fine and 240 hours of community service. Vulto and his company pleaded guilty in March to causing the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce, a misdemeanor, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in a news release.

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USA – More than 165 infected with Salmonella in raw milk outbreak

Food Safety News

More than 165 people, mostly children, have been sickened so far by raw milk products from Raw Farm LLC.

In reports obtained by Food Safety News from the California Division of Communicable Disease Control and the California Department of Health, the Salmonella outbreak has sickened 165 people across four states. Previously the department of health was reporting a dozen sick. The most recent of the reports is from February this year. The most recent illness was recorded this past month.

Germany – Botulism affects two in Germany; link to Russian product – Pickled Mushrooms

Food Safety News

A couple of people are sick in Germany with botulism after eating pickled mushrooms from Russia.

The two confirmed cases were caused by botulinum neurotoxin A. They had symptom onset in April and May. Both ill people consumed a mushroom-in-brine preserve of milk-white brittlegill.

A laboratory in Germany, located at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), found botulinum neurotoxin type A in an unopened jar of the product from the second patient’s household. The 500-gram item was produced on November 20, 2023, and expires on May 20, 2025.

Turkey – 850 prisoners suffer food poisoning in Sincan Prison in Ankara

ANFNews

Prisoners in Sincan High Security Prison No 1 stated that they were poisoned by the food they ate last week.