Gaudiano olives withdrawn due to botulism

A batch of olives produced in Italy has been withdrawn from sale in the UK after two people in Helsinki, Finland, were diagnosed with botulism. Both people reported having eaten Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds. Lab tests confirmed that the jar from which they had eaten the olives contained botulinum toxin.

The tainted olives were in 314ml glass jars with a 'best before' date of 09/2012. Olives from the implicated batch were distributed to one company in the UK, Greencity Wholefoods of Glasgow, which took delivery of 40 jars. They were imported into the UK in September 2010. These were sold on to a number of smaller retailers and caterers. None of the affected batch remains on sale.

No cases of botulism have been reported in the UK linked to this product. Consumers who purchased Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds (Product of Italy; Best before 09/2012), should not consume the product and instead dispose of them. The Food Standards Agency was notified of this food incident through the European food alert system (RASFF) and has been working with the local authority and the business involved to ensure the product is withdrawn from sale.

Source: FSA

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