M&S has slammed the sale of its own-label products by unauthorised third parties after two of its pork stuffing SKUs were implicated in an FSA recall.
Marks & Spencer-branded pork, sage & onion stuffing packs, alongside a pork & roasted red onion stuffing SKU, were among a raft of products sold by butcher chain Nicholls Meats that were recalled on 22 December.
An Asda Extra Special-branded pork, mulled cranberry & orange stuffing SKU, alongside a selection of unbranded and Nicholls Meats-branded stuffing and sausage products, were also implicated in the recall.
The products – sold in four Nicholls Meats stores in the Norfolk area – posed a risk of food poisoning after having their use-by dates extended, the FSA said. They may not have been “kept under the correct temperature control, had been previously frozen, and are also the subject of a number of labelling and traceability contraventions”.
The affected products were surplus stock sold to Nicholls Meats by a supplier to M&S and Asda. No products sold through Asda and M&S stores were affected, a spokeswoman for the FSA said, while the agency’s own investigations into the recall were “ongoing”.
“We completely condemn the sale of unsafe food using the M&S brand and we are fully supporting the FSA in their investigation,” said an M&S spokeswoman.
“This was surplus stock produced by a supplier that was never on sale in our stores and we want to reassure our customers that this notice did not affect any M&S products they’ve purchased from us.”
An Asda spokeswoman said the retailer was investigating the incident with its supplier.
“We have been made aware of a breach of the strict policies we have in place to manage surplus stock with our suppliers,” she added. ”We would like to reassure our customers that the products involved have not been produced for Asda or sold in Asda for the past two years. This incident was the result of an independent third party and we are doing all we can to support the FSA and local authorities with their investigation.”
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