Consumers may want to exclude pancakes from their breakfast following an urgent recall. Hovis Ltd. on July 20 recalled certain pancake mixes after they were found to contain an undeclared allergen. The recalled Ormo (Hovis) Food Service Frozen Pancakes with Buttermilk contain egg, which is not mentioned on the label, meaning the pancakes pose a potentially life-threatening risk to some consumers.
The recall stems from the United Kingdom, where the UK’s Food Standards Agency alerted consumers to the recall in a notice. According to that notice, the recall affects Ormo (Hovis) Food Service Frozen Pancakes with Buttermilk that were sold in a box containing 12 packs of four frozen pancakes. The recall includes all batch codes and all products produced with Best Before dates, which can be found on the label on the side of the box, between 8 February 2023 to 11 July 2023. Images of the recalled product can be found in a point-of-sale notice issued by Hovis Ltd, which can be viewed here.
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According to the recall notice, the pancakes were recalled because “the product contains egg making it a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to egg.” The Mayo Clinic notes that egg allergy is one of the most common allergies for children related to food. Symptoms often begin showing a few hours after eating eggs or foods with eggs. Signs and symptoms “range from mild to severe and can include skin rashes, hives, nasal congestion, vomiting, or other digestive problems.” In rare instances, egg allergy can cause anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening reaction. Egg allergy can occur as early as infancy, though most children, but not all, “outgrow their egg allergy before adolescence.”
Due to the health risk the pancakes pose to some consumers, those with an allergy or intolerance to egg are advised not to eat the recalled products. The products should instead be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund. The Food Standards Agency said the company “has been advised to contact the relevant allergy support organizations, which will tell their members about the recall” and has also issued a point-of-sale notice to its customers. Point-of-sale notices inform customers of the recall, explain why the product is being recalled, and also inform consumers what to do if they purchased the recalled product. The notice did not say if any adverse reactions have been reported in connection to the recalled pancakes.
