UAE urges residents to throw away frozen vegetables after listeria outbreak

Sweetcorn and mixed vegetables produced by the Belgian company Greenyard will be withdrawn from the shelves, environment ministry says

Hundreds of supermarkets, cafes and food warehouses  were found to have breached public health regulations during inspections by Sharjah Municipality. AFP

UAE residents have been urged to discard frozen vegetables produced by the Belgian company Greenyard following an outbreak of listeria in Europe.

The environment ministry has instructed supermarkets to withdraw nine sweetcorn and mixed vegetable products from their shelves.

In a statement on Sunday, officials said consumers should "return or discard the items on the list below, as they may pose serious health hazards, especially to the elderly, pregnant women and people suffering from immune deficiency".

"Based on an alert we have received from Europe, containing a list of the company’s products that have been exported to the UAE, we have issued a notification to the local food control authorities to investigate the products on the list and ensure that UAE markets are free of contaminated food items," said Majd Al Herbawi, food safety director at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.

Last week, supermarkets in the UAE began removing products following nine deaths in Europe.

Waitrose and Spinneys have both pulled Waitrose Essential Mixed Vegetable bags.

Al Herbawi said the ministry, along with Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and municipal authorities in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, are closely following the updates on the outbreak.

Brands affected by the recall of frozen vegetables are: Freshona, Tesco, Bell Farms, Green Grocer's, Sainsbury's, Growers Pride, Iceland, Oriental Express, Pinguin, Ross and Waitrose Essential.

Below is the list of Greenyard-produced products named by the environment ministry:

- American Mix III 900g

- American Mix III 400g

- Mixed Vegetables 1kg Pin

- Mixed Vegetables 900g

- Mixed Vegetables 450g

- Sweetcorn 900g

- Sweetcorn 2.5kg

- Sweetcorn 450g

- Vegetable Mix 540g

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