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Willards smooth peanut butter withdrawn

Monday 28 November 2005

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Certain batches of Willards smooth peanut butter, 375ml, have been withdrawn by Zambezi Foods. This is because they contain high levels of aflatoxins, a type of toxin found naturally in some foods, such as peanuts.

The Food Standards Agency has issued a Food Alert for Information.

The affected batch codes are:

The peanut butter is in plastic jars with a yellow lid, distributed in packs of 12, and was produced by Cairns Food Ltd of Zimbabwe.

The UK distributor, Zambezi Foods, issued a product withdrawal notice to their customers on 21 November.

Aflatoxins are produced by certain moulds that grow on foods in tropical and sub-tropical countries. They have been linked to liver cancer in these countries, where it's common for some foods that are an important part of people's diet to contain high levels of aflatoxins. However, in the UK and the rest of the EU there are legal limits for aflatoxins in foods, to make sure that people take in as little of them as possible.

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Food alerts

Food alerts are the FSA's way of letting local authorities and consumers know about problems associated with food and, in some cases, providing details of specific action to be taken.
They are issued under two categories:

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Product withdrawal of specific batch numbers of Willards smooth peanut butter due to high aflatoxin levels Read the Food Alert

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