Israeli company recalls popular food products over salmonella

An Israeli food company on Thursday recalled products after discovering traces of salmonella, a week after Unilever Israel recalled a popular cereal brand for the same reason.

Shamir Salads, manufacturer of hummus and tehina salads, common ingredients in Israeli cuisine, announced recalling their tehina products made in the past ten days after a health ministry inspection found traces of the bacteria.

The company said in a statement on Thursday it "apologizes for the error and is working to remove the products from the shelves and all distributions lines."

The company's CEO Ami Guy told the Hebrew-based Ynet news website that the company has received a late notification of the contamination from the manufacturer in charge of the raw material.

"The supplier notified us too late...we've already been producing this tainted product for ten days. We assume some of these products have been eaten," he added.

The company said it destroyed "about 200 tons of raw tehina," and opened a hotline for worried consumers. The Walla! news website reported some of the salads were supplied to military bases.

Tehina is also used as an ingredient in other forms of salads in Israel, and eight different products containing it were recalled.

The Health Ministry said it will continue to investigate the affair and consider charges against the company if needed.

Also on Thursday, the Millotel company manufacturing frozen french fries announced recalling its product after laboratory examinations found traces of the listeria bacteria in it.

Furthermore, the Health Ministry ordered the destruction of four tons of camel's milk after two children in central Israel were hospitalized after drinking it early Thursday.

The Ynet news website reported they were infected with the brucella that spreads from animals to humans or from drinking unpasteurized milk.

Last week, Unilever Israel, owner of the Israeli Telma brand of cereals, announced it had accidentally shipped salmonella-tainted cornflakes boxes to stores across the country.

The Health Ministry said on Sunday it had suspended the manufacturing license to the manufacturing plant, and Israel's Health Minister Yakov Litzman threatened on Friday to revoke the company's production license in Israel.

As the world's third largest food corporations, Unilever claimed last week that no tainted products left the factory, but on Thursday it admitted some 240 contaminated boxes were shipped to stores.

Source : XINHUA