No end in sight for baby spinach recall

There’s that saying from The Simpsons, you don’t win friends with salad, but this year in Australia you may send them off their rocker with baby spinach.

Is there any supermarket news of note this week other than the reports about hallucinogenic baby spinach? Maybe, but that one is hard to top. 

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) claims the spinach has been contaminated with “unsafe plant material”, probably a weed of some sort, and it’s working through the supply chain to find the culprit and make sure there are no other contaminated products.

FSANZ issued an extended recall for baby spinach this week for products from Riviera Fresh, Fresh Salad Co., Woolworths’ Chicken Cobb Salad and Chickpea Falafel Salad and Coles’ spinach, Chef Blend Tender Leaf, Baby Leaf Blend, Kitchen Green Goddess Salad, Kitchen Chicken BLT Salad Bowl, Kitchen Roast Pumpkin, Fetta and Walnut Salad, Kitchen Smokey Mexican Salad, Kitchen Egg and Spinach Pots.

Read: Tips for buying glasses online

Phew, that’s quite a lot, and FSANZ advises consumers to keep checking its website for updates as it may be adding more to the list as it investigates. 

Consumers should return any of these products to the point of purchase for a full refund.

If you are worried you may have eaten affected spinach, key symptoms include delirium, hallucinations, dilated pupils, rapid heartbeat, flushed face, blurred vision and dry mouth or skin. 

Merry – not hallucinogenic – Christmas everyone.

This week’s best deals

IGA

Sensible: Nectarines, $4.69/kg. Stone fruit is coming down to sensible prices and, more importantly, tastes good. I had one a few weeks ago that gave me the most puckered face in the history of puckered faces – worse than sucking a lemon. Anyway, nectarine slices look good scattered over a pav and sliced up into a jug of Pimms.

Indulgence: Steggles Frozen Turkey Breast Roast, $16 each. I loathe turkey, it’s hard to cook and very often dry, and there’s usually a lot of leftovers. But this perfectly sized turkey breast roast is a doddle. My tip? Pour a good amount of chicken stock into the roasting pan to keep everything moist.

See the catalogue here.

Read: How car sharing can make (or save) you money

Coles

Sensible: Queen Vanilla Bean Paste, $9, save $2.80. Making a priority of vanilla doesn’t seem too sensible, but hear me out. Vanilla is the prissy, prima donna of the spice world, it requires such precise conditions it can only be grown in a few places in the world and those places are coming under increasing pressure from overpopulation and climate change. As a result, the price of vanilla has steadily climbed and that’s expected to continue. Any time you see it on sale from now on, snap it up.

Indulgence: Luv-A-Duck duck fat, $4.80, save $1.20. There are potatoes and there are duck fat potatoes. For Christmas this year, treat yourself. Diet the next day.

See the catalogue here.

Woolworths

Sensible: Twenty per cent off low or no alcohol beverages. I’m seeing an increasing amount of shelf space devoted to these drinks and I’m here for it. If you like the feeling of having a full wine glass in your hand, but not the hangover, these faux drinks are perfect.

Indulgence: Cherries, $15.90/kg. After a wet season delayed the harvest, we are finally seeing cherries at retail level. The price is still a bit high, but they are super juicy with all that rain. 

See the catalogue here.

Aldi

Sensible: Philadelphia Sweet Chilli cream cheese tubs, $3.49. This product had a moment about 15 years ago, but is hard to get a hold of these days. The idea is to invert them in the centre of a snack plate and chilli sauce pours over the cheese. A bit naff, but I’m here for it.

Indulgence: Arnott’s shapes, 250g value pack. Where have you been all my life? I’m not a sweet tooth, and the Arnott’s Barbecue and Savoury shapes are my natural enemy to dieting, but these supersized packs might sink my skinny ambitions forever. Meh, I’ll die happy.

See the catalogue here.

Have you stopped buying baby spinach? Does the recall make you worry about Australia’s supply chain? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?