Thousands of packs of Cadbury desserts are being pulled from supermarket shelves following a food poisoning alert.
The products, made by dairy giant Müller, are being recalled as a precautionary step amid concerns they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
Listeria poisoning causes normal symptoms of food poisoning, but it is a particular threat to pregnant women and their unborn babies, as well as those with compromised immune systems.
The presence of food poisoning bugs in ready-to-eat foods, such as desserts, is a particular threat as there is no cooking process to kill the bacteria.
The product recall covers Cadbury Crunchie Chocolate Dessert, Cadbury Flake Chocolate Dessert, Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons Chocolate Dessert, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chunks Chocolate Dessert, Cadbury Heroes Chocolate Dessert (six pack), and Cadbury Daim Chocolate Dessert.
The Food Standards Agency said: ‘Symptoms caused by this organism can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.
‘Some people are more vulnerable to listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and people with weakened immune systems.’
Müller has posted point-of-sale notices in stores to alert customers.
These notices explain why the products are being recalled and tell customers what to do if they have bought the products.
The company said: ‘If you have bought any of the above products do not eat them. Instead, return them to the store from where they were bought for a full refund (with or without a receipt).’
For more information contact Müller on team_cccare@muller.co.uk or 07354 835 893.
Cadbury was prosecuted and fined £1million over the salmonella contamination of chocolate products in 2006.
The contamination led to the recall of more than one million chocolate bars and left the confectionary giant with a bill estimated at £20million.
