Frozen food products recalled as they 'never should have been sold'

A huge frozen foods company has issued an urgent recall for a range of frozen food products that were not meant to be sold in the UK.

McCain Foods GB took action after discovering that a distributor had been selling McCain Foods India items, which were part of a small market trial.

During the trial, which started on May 19, a limited number of items from nine different product lines were stocked in 20 stores. Following the discovery of the imported goods, McCain GB conducted an investigation and found a compliance check error, reports the Liverpool Echo.

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This oversight means the products, while compliant with Indian regulations, have not been fully evaluated against UK standards.

The concern centres around the possible presence of allergens specific to the UK market, such as mustard and celery, and the potential inclusion of ethylene oxide, a chemical used to treat product seasonings. McCain has confirmed that all affected products have been removed from sale, with a total of 24,992 packs being withdrawn.

Out of 43,663 packs involved in the trial, 18,671 had been sold before the products were pulled from the shelves. The recall affects all batch codes and 'best before' dates of the concerned products.

No other McCain products are implicated in this recall.

The recalled products are:

A spokesperson for McCain stated: "We take the safety and well-being of our customers extremely seriously and are recalling these products out of an abundance of caution. We apologise for the inconvenience caused."