Botulism fears spark artisan haggis recall

AN award-winning firm of haggis-makers has been forced to recall products after being caught up in a botulism scare.

The Farmer’s Son, based at Auchtertool, Fife, makes vacuumpacked artisan black pudding, white pudding and haggis.

With Burns Night just weeks away, the company has had to recall batches of haggis.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) – which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland – say the recall is owing to ‘concerns over the company’s procedures in place to control Clostridium botulinum’ – a toxin which can cause botulism.

Food-borne botulism is rare but potentially deadly.

It is characterised by paralysis which can cause respiratory failure. FSS and the FSA issued the ‘precautionary’ recall – which also includes batches of black pudding – on Saturday.

Haggis of various weights, packs of four haggis slices and packs of four black and white pudding slices are the products with various use-by dates being recalled.

A notice on the FSA site said: ‘The Farmer’s Son is recalling various products because of concerns over the company’s procedures in place to control Clostridium botulinum.

‘Manufacturing controls that could potentially affect the safety of the products listed could not be demonstrated satisfactorily by the company.’

It tells anyone who has bought an affected product to return it to the store where it was purchased for a refund.