Food Alerts, product withdrawals and recalls: Scotland
The FSA issues a 'Product Withdrawal Information Notice' or a 'Product Recall Information Notice' to let local authorities and consumers know about problems associated with food. In some cases, a 'Food Alert for Action' is issued. This provides local authorities with details of specific action to be taken on behalf of consumers.
This information is also sent to Consultants in Communicable Disease Control and food trade organisations to alert them to current food issues.
A Product Withdrawal Information Notice or a Product Recall Information Notice is issued where a solution to the problem has been put in place – the product has been, or is being, withdrawn from sale or recalled from consumers, for example. A Food Alert for Action is issued where intervention by enforcement authorities is required. These notices and alerts are often issued in conjunction with a product withdrawal or recall by a manufacturer, retailer or distributor.
Details of the latest product withdrawals and recalls, including Food Alerts for Action, issued in Scotland can be found below. Because of the Agency's openness remit, all previous notices and alerts are available. You can find them via the search box at the bottom of this page. In many cases the food issues they refer to will have been resolved.
From June 2010, the FSA changed the way it issues information about product withdrawals and recalls. Product Withdrawal Information Notices and Product Recall Information Notices replace what was known under the previous system as the ‘Food Alert for Information’.