Recall of nut bars due to salmonella

EAT Natural has recalled some of its fruit and nut bars over salmonella fears.

The brand has said customers should not eat its brazil nut and sultana bars as they could be contaminated with the dangerous bacteria.

The Brazil nuts are the potential cause of salmonella, the Food Standards Agency said.

The recall comes after a small number of people reported falling ill with the disease, some of whom had eaten an Eat Natural bar containing Brazil nuts.

Salmonella can lead to serious gastrointestinal problems, such as cramps and diarrhoea, and is potentially fatal.

The bacteria live in the guts of animals but make humans ill if they are consumed.

Anyone can fall ill from salmonella but the young, the elderly and those already in hospital are particularly vulnerable.

Usually symptoms take between six and 72 hours to show and illness can last several days.

The bars which are affected by the recall weigh 35g and 50g, as well as some included in multipacks. The best before end dates are those for

August, September, October, November and December 2020 and January, February, March, April, May and June 2021. Eat Natural bars are stocked by a range of retailers, including Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s as well as Boots, Holland and Barrett and Superdrug.

Praveen Vijh, co-founder of Essexbased Eat Natural, said: ‘We are working closely with the relevant authorities, retailers and with our consumers to ensure that all brazil and sultana with peanuts and almonds bars are recalled from shelves immediately.

‘Our bars are heat treated and this diminishes the likelihood of contamination, but we are taking this matter extremely seriously and taking all steps possible, even though at this stage the notification is very much a precautionary measure.

‘This is an isolated incident related to some batches of Brazil nuts and does not affect any of our other bars or cereal products in any way.’ Anyone who has bought the affected bars is urged to return them to stores for a refund.