Waitrose has pulled a popular food item from shelves and has issued an urgent recall notice to its customers amid contamination fears.
The British supermarket giant has recalled packs of black olives sold in stores after some were found to contain traces of listeria.
Waitrose found listeria monocytogenes in 120g packs of Waitrose Essential Pitted Black Olives with a use-by date of September 13, 2026, September 18, 2026, and September 27, 2026.
Any customers who have purchased these packs of olives are urged not to eat them and to return them to a Waitrose store for a full refund.
Listeria can contaminate a wide range of foods, but some are more likely to bear the Listeria parasite. Pre-made deli meats, salads, soft mould-ripened cheeses (such as Camembert and brie), and other pre-prepared chilled food items are just some of the usual suspects that are more likely to carry listeria.
According to the NHS, the bacterium Listeria can cause a rare infection called Listeriosis, which can make some people seriously ill. In most people, listeriosis has no symptoms or only causes mild symptoms for a few days, such as a high temperature, aches and pains, chills, feeling or being sick, and diarrhea.
In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications such as meningitis.
