Major UK supermarkets have recalled 43 frozen vegetable products due to potential listeria contamination. The affected items, primarily sweetcorn-based, were supplied by Greenyard Frozen UK.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned that the products may contain listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis—a rare but serious illness linked to two deaths in the UK last year.
Own-brand products from Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's, Lidl, Iceland, and Waitrose are among those affected. The FSA has published a full list of recalled items on its website.
Greenyard Frozen UK, based in King's Lynn, Norfolk, advised customers not to eat the products and to return them to the store for a full refund. The company has been approached for comment.
According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 11 people in the UK have been affected by listeriosis since 2015, including two fatalities last year. The outbreak has also affected Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.
The FSA emphasised that most frozen vegetables should be cooked according to manufacturer's instructions before consumption. The same listeria strain was detected in frozen vegetables from a Hungarian company in 2016, 2017, and 2018, suggesting persistence in the processing plant despite cleaning procedures.
