Urgent allergy advice remains as Food Standards Agency updates on investigation into mustard ingredients contaminated with peanuts

The Food Standards Agency continues to advise people who have a peanut allergy to avoid eating any foods that contain or may contain mustard, mustard seeds, mustard powder or mustard flour because of potential contamination with peanuts.

The Food Standards Agency, working with Food Standards Scotland, is leading an investigation into the food supply chain of mustard ingredients which may have been contaminated with peanuts.

After publishing urgent allergy advice on 20 September and following extensive food chain analysis, on-going investigations by the FSA and FSS have traced the contaminated mustard ingredients to three suppliers in India. These producers have supplied three spice companies in the UK, which have subsequently distributed the ingredients to a range of manufacturing, hospitality and retail businesses. The FSA has asked all three spice companies to urgently check whether their products have been contaminated, and to immediately inform any businesses they have supplied.

As of 27 September, the FSA has published 66 product recalls undertaken by UK businesses, for a variety of products. Testing has identified contamination with peanut in multiple products across a number of businesses and we expect further recalls in the coming days. When the FSA finds a product is affected, they will continue to update consumers with allergy alerts on their website.

As the safety of food is the responsibility of the business, the FSA has asked businesses to swiftly carry out the necessary checks on their products and to verify with their suppliers if any products they use could be affected.

Rebecca Sudworth, Director of Policy at the FSA said:

“This investigation is complex and the FSA and FSS are working with relevant businesses, local authorities, and agencies to put all necessary measures in place to protect consumers.

For now, it remains very important that anyone with a peanut allergy avoids consuming products containing mustard as an ingredient until we are satisfied industry has identified and recalled all the specific affected products. Parents and carers of children who have a peanut allergy should take care to check the labels of food they buy and, if eating out, or getting a takeaway, ask the restaurant or cafe about foods that might contain mustard.

While we understand that this advice may currently limit many people’s food choices, our priority must be to ensure consumer safety.

If you or a family member has had an allergic reaction that could be linked to this investigation, please report it to the food business who supplied the affected product and to the local authority where the product was purchased. Guidance is available for how to report a food problem to a local authority.

We will update consumers as soon as more information becomes available. We strongly encourage individuals with allergies to sign up for our allergy alerts to stay informed about future recalls.”

Investigations to identify the root cause of the contamination are in progress, both in UK and India, working with trade associations and affected businesses.