News briefs: Chocolate, nut and cracker recalls
because of a nut trace, Wholesnax failed to label the presence of
soya in its nuts, and a Korean company may have surprised one poor
consumer with a rat's head.
Cadbury Easter eggs recalled over allergy fears The recent Easter period has not been such a happy Easter holiday for Cadbury Adams, as the company was forced to recall some of its Mini Egg products over the weekend because of an undeclared nut trace. An allergy to nuts is a serious problem for consumers across the globe, and in North America alone, over three million people experience reactions such as rashes and breathlessness According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Cadbury Adams mistakenly packaged the seasonal treats without declaring the possible presence of a hazelnut protein. There has been one reported illness associated this product since the Mini Eggs went on sale, and "the CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall", the agency said. Cadbury Adams is a confectionery and snack subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes, producing gum, cough drops and candy in the US. The company is also one of the leading chocolate manufacturers in Canada. Wholesnax recalls nut snacks One UK-based company has also been forced to recall a range of snack products, this time because of a failure to mention soya on the label. Wholesnax, one of the country's leading manufacturers of healthy fruit- and nut-based snacks, has recalled batches of its choclate coated nuts because soya lecithin was only labelled as lecithin on the ingredients list, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) said. Lecithins are a group of natural fatty substances that are used in the food industry as an emulsifier or lubricant. Lecitin derived from soya must always be labelled on the packaging as a small minority of intolerant consumers experience health problems, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, coughing and wheezing, when consuming soya. The Wholesnax products affected by the inaccurate labels were chocolate-coated brazil nuts, peanuts, raisins, peanuts and raisins, and mixed nuts and raisins, the FSA said. However, these products have now all been recalled for re-labelling, the agency said. Rat head forces Korean snack recall Korean snack company Nong Shim has had to recall one of its brands after one unfortunate consumer found what appeared to be a rat's head in her bag of shrimp crackers, Reuters reported last week. Retailers across the company pulled bags of 'Saewookkang' from shelves after pictures of the suspected rodent part started to circulate on the internet, the news agency said. A Nong Shim spokesperson told Reuters that he was not sure if the mysterious object entered the production process in China or South Korea. "The company is fully responsible for the accident," he said. Not surprisingly, the scandal has not done much for the company's image. Shares in Nong Shim fell 3.5 per cent to 185,000 won last week.
