Nearly 50 people – more than 30 of them children – have been hospitalised by a major salmonella outbreak in instant noodle pots.
The outbreak is believed to have started in November last year, with 106 cases being reported as of June 27 this year across 14 countries, including the UK.
Food safety agency EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have said in a statement: ‘Flavoured noodle products are the most likely source of an ongoing multi-country outbreak of infections, with evidence linking the cases to items from the same brand.’
While they did not specify the vendor, cases linked to the salmonella Stanley strain connected back to a Ukrainian producer.
In a statement last week, international brand Reeva Foods said there was an ‘alleged detection’ of salmonella in a batch of its instant noodles made by produced by Ukrainian manufacturer Euro Food Service.
The company said it had withdrew the batches and launched an internal probe, saying: ‘The safety of our consumers is our top priority.’
So far, cases have been reported in Austria, the UK, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, according to authorities.
Out of 106 cases, roughly 49 people developed such a severe illness that they needed to be hospitalised, he European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said.
From this number, 33 of the cases have been children aged under 10.