Houmous recalled

From BBC Health

Five more supermarkets have removed houmous products from their shelves after traces of salmonella were found in two Marks and Spencer varieties.
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op, Somerfield and Waitrose have all removed own-brand houmous made by Bakkavor, which also made the affected M&S products.

All Bakkavor-made own brand houmous and flavoured houmous products at the six chains have been recalled.

The products were removed as a precautionary measure, Bakkavor said.

The initial recall centred on two M&S brands - Piquillo Pepper Topped Houmous and Reduced Fat Houmous, both dated use by 15 February.

Marks and Spencer immediately withdrew the products from sale as well as all other unaffected houmous products "as an extreme precaution".

A Food Standards Agency (FSA) spokeswoman said: "Salmonella can cause food poisoning and shouldn't be present in ready-to-eat food."

A statement on the Iceland-based Bakkavor's website said: "During routine testing, salmonella was discovered in two varieties of houmous manufactured in one of the group's factories.

"The cause is related to a raw material."

The company is urging customers to return products to stores for a full refund.

For more information, they can call the Bakkavor care line.

EDITED to remove telephone number. It can be found here:

[link= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6370699.stm ]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6370699.stm[/link]

** The recalled products are:

M&S own brand, flavoured and topped. All dates
Co-op own brand and flavoured. Date codes up to 28 February 2007
Sainsbury's own brand, flavoured and topped. Date codes up to 28 February 2007
Somerfield own brand and flavoured. Date codes up to 28 February 2007
Tesco own brand, flavoured and topped. Date codes up to 28 February 2007
Waitrose own brand, flavoured and topped. Date codes up to 28 February 2007