Rootz Large Eccles Cake withdrawn
Friday 5 February 2010
Harden Food has withdrawn its Rootz Large Eccles Cake, because the product contains sulphur dioxide, which is not mentioned correctly on the product label. This makes the product a possible health risk for anyone who is sensitive to sulphites.
The Agency has issued an Allergy Alert advising anyone with a sensitivity to sulphites not to eat the product.
More information about sulphites and how they are used in food can be found further down this page.
Product details
The withdrawn product is:
- Product name: Rootz Large Eccles Cake
- Brand: Rootz
- Best before: All dates up to and including 31 March 2010
- Pack size: 85g
Harden Foods is withdrawing the affected products from sale and has been asked to contact the relevant allergy support organisations, which will inform their members of the withdrawal. The product will be over-stickered with correct allergen labelling information.
No other Harden Foods products are known to be affected.
The science behind the story
Sulphites are used as preservatives in a wide range of foods, in particular soft drinks, sausages, burgers, and dried fruit and vegetables. These additives maintain food colour and prolong shelf-life by preventing the growth of micro-organisms.
When the gas sulphur dioxide is dissolved in a liquid, such as wine, it is known as a sulphite.
Sulphur dioxide is produced naturally when wine and beer are made and it is often added to wine to stop it from continuing to ferment in the bottle. Usually, most of the ‘head space’ in a bottle of wine (the part of the bottle not filled with wine) is sulphur dioxide.
Some people who have asthma may react to inhaling sulphur dioxide. A very few people with asthma have had an attack after drinking acidic drinks (such as fruit-based drinks) containing sulphites, but this is not thought to be very common. Read more about intolerance to sulphites and other additives at eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/foodintolerance/foodintolerancetypes/foodadditiv/.
Allergy Alerts
Sometimes there will be a problem with a food product that means it should not be sold. Then it might be 'withdrawn' (taken off the shelves) or 'recalled' (when customers are asked to return the product). Sometimes foods have to be withdrawn or recalled if there is a risk to consumers because the allergy labelling is missing or incorrect or if there is any other food allergy risk.
In such situations the Agency will issue an Allergy Alert. It is also possible to subscribe to an email alert system to receive automatic messages whenever Allergy Alerts are issued. Click on 'Get alerts' in the box at the bottom of this page to find more details.
You can get details of all the latest allergy alerts as soon as they're issued by getting the details sent as a SMS text message direct to your mobile phone.
To sign up to this free service, simply send the text message ‘START ALLERGY’ to the number 62372. To unsubscribe, just text 'STOP ALLERGY' to the same number.
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