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Supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Waitrose, Co-op, Amazon and M&S, as well as coffee chains Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero, have all had to issue product recalls

Is the UK currently in the midst of a Salmonella outbreak? (images: Adobe)

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been forced to issue a chicken Salmonella outbreak warning for the UK.

Ongoing food poisoning cases from frozen raw breaded chicken and a separate major product recall by key supermarket supplier Cranswick Country Foods have led to fears about the presence of the harmful bacteria.

Supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Waitrose, Co-op, M&S and Amazon, as well as high street coffee chains Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero, have all been forced to issue product recalls.

It comes after a spate of product recalls across several product categories, including chocolate, nuts and melons.

The most high profile of these was Ferrero’s recall of some of its Kinder range in the run up to Easter.

So what is Salmonella - and which products are currently being impacted by an outbreak in the UK?

Here’s what you need to know.

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning.

Typically found living in the guts of animals and humans, it tends to be ejected through faeces.

However, when farm animals are being reared, slaughtered and then processed, Salmonella bacteria can be transferred into products destined for human consumption.

The highest risk items tend to be raw meat, undercooked poultry, egss, and unpasteurised milk.

Salmonella can also contaminate green vegetables and fruit through muck spreading when farmers try to fertilise their crops, as well as shellfish if it comes into contact with untreated sewage.

Cats and dogs can eject it too, meaning you should always wash your hands when you’ve picked up their poo.

While Salmonella bacteria can live in our intestines without causing us any trouble, they can make us badly ill if we eat or drink things contaminated by them.

This food poisoning condition is called Salmonellosis, and is particularly serious for children under five-years-old, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

According to the NHS, symptoms include:

These can begin to appear hours, days or even weeks after eating contaminated food.

The FSA has several tips for avoiding food poisoning.

These include what it calls the ‘4Cs’: chilling, cleaning, cooking and avoiding cross-contamination.

It also says we should wash our hands thoroughly using soap and water when we:

According to new FSA alerts issued this week, there are two separate UK Salmonella outbreaks relating to chicken.

Cranswick Country Foods is a major supplier of poultry meat to UK supermarkets and high street food chains.

The firm said it had identified Salmonella in a “limited number” of cooked chicken products made at its site near Hull and had issued a recall as a “precautionary measure”.

Its Hull plant has been closed down while the company and the FSA look into the source of the outbreak.

A UK-wide recall has been issued, with customers being urged not to eat affected products and to instead return them to the store they purchased them from in exchange for a full refund.

Here is a full list of which Cranswick products are being recalled:

The ‘Jamie Oliver deli by Shell’ Spicy Chipotle BBQ Chicken Wrap (dates up to and including 13 May) is also included in the recall.

Ongoing frozen breaded chicken outbreak

The other warning relates to an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis (a specific form of the bacteria) that began in 2020.

This latter outbreak relates to frozen raw breaded chicken products, including: nuggets, goujons, poppers and Kievs.

But the FSA says food poisoning cases linked to this outbreak are lower than they were in previous years thanks to “control measures” and product recalls.

Since January 2020, there have been 480 reported cases of Salmonellosis.

No particular reason has been given for the outbreak.

“Our advice is to always take care when storing, handling and cooking these types of frozen breaded chicken products to help reduce the risk of food poisoning to you and your family,”said FSA chief operating officer Colin Sullivan.

“You should always check the cooking instructions on food packaging, as different brands of the same product might have different instructions.

“Cooking food at the right temperature and for the correct length of time will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed.”

Chicken is not the only product to have a Salmonella risk at the moment.

Kinder chocolate has also been the subject of widespread recalls owing to a Salmonella outbreak at its factory in Arlon, Belgium.

The brand’s owner Ferrero said it will halt production at the plant until it is “certified by the authorities”.

It acknowledged “internal inefficiencies, creating delays in retrieving and sharing information in a timely manner” and said these had “impacted the speed and effectiveness of the investigations”.

The company said it “deeply” regrets what has happened and apologised to consumers and its partners.

The FSA has also had to issue precautionary Salmonella food safety advice for melons.

Whole honeydew, cantaloupe and galia melons that came from Costa Rica or Honduras and were bought either on or before 28 May 2021 are affected.

They should be thrown away as a precaution, the FSA said.