Recall of branded bacon and cabbage ready-meals over Listeria fears

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued a product recall alert for branded, ready-made bacon and cabbage dinners, produced by Ballymaguire Foods for five supermarket chains, due to a possible risk of Listeria contamination.

The ready-made bacon and cabbage dinners in question were sold under the SuperValu, Centra, Tesco, Good Food, and From the Farm brands.

The FSAI said the alert affects “pack sizes, all batch codes and all use-by dates” which have the approval number 4008.

The authority said the five branded bacon and cabbage dinners were being recalled due to “the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes”.

Listeria monocytogenes are a dangerous bacteria which can cause serious illness.

According to the FSAI, symptoms of infection can include mild flu-like symptoms, or gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications.

Some people are more vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes infections, including pregnant women, babies, and people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly.

The incubation period, which is the time between initial infection and first symptoms appearing, is on average three weeks but can range between three days and 70 days.

Anyone who has purchased one of the branded ready-made meals in question is urged not to use them.

Anyone experiencing symptoms after eating one of the ready-made meals should seek medical attention, especially people who are vulnerable to infection.

The FSAI said: “Retailers are requested to remove the implicated bacon and cabbage dinners from sale and display recall notices at point-of-sale.

“Wholesalers/distributors are requested to contact their affected customers and recall the implicated bacon and cabbage dinners and provide a point-of-sale recall notice to their retailer customers.

“Caterers should not use the implicated bacon and cabbage dinners”.