Product recall in the Fens- Polish lard product can cause serious flu like symptoms or even meningitis

Food safety warning issued for Polish food Gaster Smalec which is thought to contain listeria Archant

People are being warned not to eat a product from Poland that has been found to have traces of listeria and could cause flu like symptoms or even meningitis.

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Food safety warning issued for Polish food Gaster Smalec which is thought to contain listeria Food safety warning issued for Polish food Gaster Smalec which is thought to contain listeria

Instead shoppers are urged to return it immediately to the store where they bought it.

The product is called Gaster Smalec (lard with cracklings and onions).

It comes in 190g packs with a “best before” date of 19 January 2017.

Fenland District Council has today (November 28) issued a product recall notice following advice from the Food Standards Agency.

The notice says that microbiological sampling in France has found that Gaster Smalec contains the presence of listeria monocytogenes, a food poisoning bacteria that is particularly dangerous to the elderly, pregnant women and their unborn child, babies less than one month old, and people with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms caused by the bacteria can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.

In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications such as meningitis.