Fish Soup Sold at Major Supermarkets Recalled Because Cans Could Burst

A popular canned fish soup has been pulled from shelves at Tesco, Waitrose, and Sainsbury's after the company that makes it found a fault in how the tins were produced. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), a government body that checks whether food is safe to eat, issued an alert on Friday. The recall affects Baxters Chef Selections Cullen Skink soup, which is a smoked haddock chowder. The problem could cause the cans to swell up and even burst, which is dangerous for anyone handling them.

The FSA warned customers in England and Wales who bought the soup: 'do not eat it.' If the soup has gone bad, it may smell and taste unpleasant. The most important safety advice is not to open the can at all. Instead, people are told to place the full, unopened can carefully into a bag and throw it away in an outside bin, not an indoor rubbish bin.

The recall only affects 400g cans with the batch code L07XC and a best before date of April 2029. A batch code is a set of letters and numbers printed on a can that tells you exactly when and where it was made. If you are unsure whether your can is affected, check the bottom or side of the tin for that code. Any can with a different code is not part of this recall.

Shoppers who want a refund can return the product to any Tesco store without a receipt. Tesco posted its own message to customers saying: 'If you've bought an affected product, please don't eat it.' Signs will also be put up in all stores that sold the soup to explain why it has been taken off the shelves. People can also contact Baxters directly by calling 0800 389 8389 or emailing CCUK@baxters.com.

Earlier in the same week, the FSA also issued a separate food safety warning about a juice drink. AG Barr, the company that makes Rubicon drinks, recalled certain batches of its Yuzu and Pink Grapefruit juice because the cartons may contain undeclared sulphites. Sulphites are chemicals sometimes used to preserve food and drink, but they can be harmful to people who have an allergy or sensitivity to them. The recall affects 1-litre cartons with batch codes 6160, 6198, 6219, and 6257, with best before dates ranging from June to September 2027.

An allergy to sulphites can cause symptoms like breathing problems, skin rashes, or stomach pain. Because the sulphites were not listed on the label, people with this allergy had no way of knowing the drink could be a risk. This kind of recall is called a precautionary recall, which means the company is acting carefully even if not every carton is definitely affected. Food safety experts say it is always better to act early when there is any chance someone could be harmed.