FOOD AUTHORITY WARNS ABOUT ' GULSAN' AND ' CEREN' HALVA
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) today warned Australians - especially those of Turkish or Arabic background - to avoid eating two imported brands of a Middle Eastern sweet known as halva.
The two brands - Gulsan and Ceren - are imported from Turkey and are believed to be responsible for a number of cases of salmonella poisoning caused by the virulent pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium DT104, which occurs only very rarely in Australia, and usually only in association with recent overseas travel.
ANZFA' s General Manager Food Safety, Legal and Evaluation, Greg Roche, said ANZFA has asked the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to test all halva products from all countries prior to release from Customs.
Victorian health authorities have issued recalls on both the Gulsan and Ceren brands of halva. ANZFA is now advising all retailers, nationally, to remove these products from their shelves and for consumers either to dispose of these sweets immediately or return to place of purchase.
' We have asked all States and Territory health authorities to check whether these two brands are being sold in their jurisdictions,' Mr Roche said.
' This is a serious matter which has the potential to cause illness and hospitalisation if these products are allowed to remain on the marketplace. We urge all retailers and consumers to discard Gulsan and Ceren brands of halva as a matter of urgency.
' Fortunately, all the people becoming ill from exposure to Salmonella Typhimurium have fully recovered, but this is a particularly nasty bug and we want to get any suspect food products off the shelves as quickly as possible.'
Mr Roche said halva is sometimes known as ' helva' or ' halwa' . It is made from sesame seeds and is available in plain, chocolate or pistachio flavours.
No further halva products will be allowed into Australia until tests show that they are free from Salmonella.
' Although the importers of the Gulsan and Ceren brands of halva responsible for the recent outbreak of food poisoning are Melbourne-based, the products may find their way across Australia. We acknowledge the assistance of the importers in resolving this issue,' Mr Roche said.
' It is also possible that ' Sera' brand halva may have been imported into Australia. ' Sera' brand halva was implicated in a recent Salmonella outbreak in Sweden. Any consumer with ' Sera' brand halva should also dispose of it.'