Dip disaster! Shops axe dodgy houmous

A CRISIS over houmous may seem crackers – or even pitta-ful. But Middle Britain appeared to be left in turmoil after supermarkets stripped the dip from shelves.

It had to be removed from sale in Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose on quality grounds.

All the products were believed to have come from one manufacturer that supplies houmous to most major chains.

The stores insisted there was no food safety concern, but thousands of tubs were removed stores – with customers venting their disappointment on social media sites.

One tweeted to Sainsbury’s, writing: ‘Well. That’s my Saturday night RUINED.’ And Neil Spencer Bruce said he was ‘struggling’, writing: ‘Sainsbury’s this signals the end of the world! Two days no houmous… It’s my staple!’

An M&S customer contacted the chain, tweeting: ‘My colleagues are complaining that your houmous recipe has changed. Only topic of conversation in the office.’

A shopper at Tesco wrote: ‘Your houmous tastes very peculiar. Have you changed the recipe? The tub I bought this week taste metallic!’

Sainsbury’s stores put up notices blaming a ‘production issue’. A spokesman said: ‘A small number of customers told us it didn’t taste the way it normally would. We’re investigating the issue with our supplier.

‘We’ve temporarily removed a number of houmous lines from sale due to a production issue at our supplier.

‘We expect to be fully stocked within a couple of days and are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.’

M&S said: ‘Some of our houmous products were temporarily taken off shelf due to a supplier issue.

‘We can reassure customers that our recipe hasn’t changed and that houmous is now back in store.’

Waitrose said it had never completely run out. A spokesman explained: ‘We removed one day’s production of houmous from sale last week (use by April 20). We had other date codes available at this time so houmous was still on sale.’

Tesco said it continued to have the dip on sale.

The Food Standards Agency said it had been told the product withdrawal was on quality rather than safety grounds.

It is understood the dip was made by Bakkavor, which supplies most major supermarkets with own-brand houmous.

The firm was involved in a row with staff and unions last year over plans to extend the working day in order to keep up with soaring demand.

The company did not make any comment on the product withdrawal.