Khaberni - The British Aldi store chain issued an urgent warning today (Wednesday), and withdrew a popular Christmas product from all its branches, fearing it might cause serious or fatal allergic reactions.
Famous Chocolate Withdrawal
The product concerned is: "Dairyfine Salted Caramel Filled Gonks" (chocolate in the shape of 'Gonk' statues filled with salted caramel) with barcode number: 4061463276865, all expiration dates affected.
Why did a global company withdraw a chocolate product?
According to the British Food Standards Agency, it was discovered that the product may contain undeclared traces of peanuts on the package, making it a potential health risk for anyone allergic to peanuts.
Food Standards Agency Statement
The Food Standards Agency officially issued the alert, and Aldi confirmed in its statement "As a precautionary measure, our supplier is withdrawing the product because it may contain peanuts. We ask customers to return it to the nearest branch for a full refund without the need for a receipt. We apologize for this shortfall which did not meet our usual high standards."
Product advertisements have been suspended in all stores explaining the reason for the withdrawal and return steps.
What is a peanut allergy?
Peanut allergy is one of the most severe types of food allergies in Britain, affecting one child out of every 50 and one adult out of every 200, and a very small amount can cause anaphylaxis leading to death within minutes.
Recall of Celery, Fruit, and Nut Salad
The new recall comes just one week after Tesco recalled a celery, fruit, and nut salad due to concerns that it could lead to fatal allergic reactions. The company recalled a 300 gram celery, fruit, and nuts salad product with an expiry date of December 2, 2025.
It turns out that the product contains mustard which was not mentioned on the label. According to the Food Standards Agency, this means the product poses a potential health risk to anyone with a mustard allergy.
The company advised customers with mustard allergies not to consume it and to return it to any store for a full refund.
In a statement, Tesco said: "We are recalling a specific date code for Tesco's 300 gram celery and nuts salad product, due to the presence of mustard in the mayonnaise component of the product."
