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Listeria hospital sandwich scare | Listeria hospital sandwich scare |
(30 minutes later) | |
Thousands of sandwiches supplied to schools, hospitals and businesses in the South East may have been infected with listeria, food watchdogs say. | |
Kent-based Anchor Catering Ltd has supplied food thought to have been contaminated to local authorities in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Essex and London. | |
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said as yet there had been no reported cases of illness caused by the sandwiches. | |
It has launched an investigation into how the infection began. | It has launched an investigation into how the infection began. |
Prompt action | Prompt action |
The contamination was discovered by Ashford Borough Council during routine sandwich sample tests. | |
FSA chief scientist Dr Andrew Wadge said: "Listeria doesn't pose a threat to the vast majority of the population but it can be serious for some vulnerable groups such as pregnant women. | |
"Although the company took prompt action to notify customers and withdraw the product, large numbers of sandwiches may have been consumed before the problem was detected." | "Although the company took prompt action to notify customers and withdraw the product, large numbers of sandwiches may have been consumed before the problem was detected." |
Symptoms of the listeria infection include fever, flu-like illness and diarrhoea. They can take up to 90 days to appear. | Symptoms of the listeria infection include fever, flu-like illness and diarrhoea. They can take up to 90 days to appear. |
The Health Protection Agency said the pre-packed sandwiches had use-by dates between 1 February and 14 March. | |
"We're not saying that all of them were contaminated, we can't be certain of that," said South East regional director Graham Bickler | |
"But there is a risk that they were. | |
"For those who are well the risks are extremely low. But the at risk groups are more at risk." | |
Anchor Catering Ltd voluntarily suspended production at its sandwich factory and told all outlets to pull its products within the dates affected after the contamination came to light. | |
The company was unavailable for comment. |