The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued the alert over containers of Loyd Grossman korma sauce as two members of the same family in Scotland were struck down with the potentially deadly bug.
A spokesman for Premier Foods, which owns the brand, told FoodProductionDaily.com that no other batches or products from the company were believed to be affected.
He confirmed that almost 50,000 jars had been pulled from sale as a precautionary measure.
Botulism
The FSA said botulism was caused by toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which attacks the nervous system and can affect people of any age. The infection is not contagious, with symptoms of the foodborne strain typically beginning between 12 and 36 hours after ingestion of the contaminated product.
The safety watchdogs said today that only one jar from the batch is known to have been contaminated with the botulism-causing bacteria but that it was urging consumers not to eat products from the whole batch as a precautionary measure.
The affected batch is 350g jars of Loyd Grossman Korma sauce with a 'best before' date of February 2013. The sauce has a batch code of: 1218R 07:21, said the FSA.
Precautionary recall hits 47,000 jars
A spokesman for Premier Foods said: “The company is still testing but no other jars have been found to be contaminated. We are issuing the recall of the entire batch of 47,000 jars as a precautionary measure.”
The contaminated jar came from the firm’s processing plant in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk, England. Production on the korma line has been halted while the company carries out an investigation, he added.
“There is reason to think that it has spread anywhere else and we are working closely with the FSA,” said the spokesman.
Botulism symptoms, which can worsen rapidly, include blurred vision, difficulty swallowing and difficulty speaking. They are then followed by general muscle weakness. Anybody exhibiting such symptoms has been urged to get urgent medical help, said the FSA.