Israel’s salmonella scare continued this week, with one of the country’s major producers of hummus and tehina products announcing a recall on Thursday.
Shamir Salads said it had been informed on Wednesday by its tehina supplier, the “Tehinat Hanasich” factory, that some of its products may have been infected with salmonella bacteria.
Subsequent testing by Health Ministry inspectors identified a problem at a particular production line within the factory. Two hundred tonnes of raw tehina are due to be destroyed, and the factory also recalled shipments sent to other companies that use the refined tehina in their own food products.
Speaking to Ynet News, Ami Guy, Shamir Salads CEO, said: “The tehina supplier notified us too late. We’ve already been producing [products using this tehina] for 10 days.” He added: “We can assume that people have eaten from these products.”
Shamir Salads describes itself as one of the three largest chilled salads companies in Israel. According to its website, it supplies all supermarket chains in Israel and is the sole supplier to the IDF.
Hummus and tehina-based products within certain expiry dates were being recalled, the company announced. It said that hummus and tehina products outside the specified dates, as well as all its other products, were safe for consumption.
Last week the JC reported that cereal-maker Telma had withdrawn some of its cornflakes from shops due to worries about salmonella.
Reports from Israel indicate that a lawsuit has now been filed against Shamir and three other companies for negligence in product inspection. The lawsuit also accuses Prince Tehina, one of the litigants, of concealing information from its customers.
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