Veg recalled as sweetcorn linked to 9 listeria deaths

died last year. There have been a further 36 cases, with seven deaths, in Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

A freezing plant in Baja, Hungary, owned by Belgian firm Greenyard, is believed to be the source of the contamination.

In a statement, Greenyard said: “The recall initiative of these products does not imply that they are actually contaminated. Greenyard is committed to taking a maximum of precautionary measures as food safety is Greenyard’s number one priority.” The Food Standards Agency recall affects own-label frozen sweetcorn and mixed veg from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose.

Public Health England’s Dr Kathie Grant said: “The best way to prevent listeriosis is to practise good food hygiene. We are reminding people that most frozen vegetables, including sweetcorn, need to be cooked before eating.”

A full list of affected products is on the FSA website at food.gov.uk. TENS of thousands of bags of frozen veg containing sweetcorn have been cleared from supermarket shelves amid fears they may be contaminated with killer bug listeria.

The Food Standards Agency issued a “do not eat” warning on 43 products after sweetcorn was linked to an outbreak of listeriosis that has killed nine people in Europe since 2015.

European Food Safety Authority figures show 11 people in the UK have been affected by listeriosis since 2015, including two people who