On Friday, November 22, 2025, Asda Stores Limited pulled 12,750 packets of its Extra Special Luxury Mixed Nuts & Dried Fruit from shelves across England, Scotland, and Wales — not because they were spoiled, but because they contained almonds no label warned about. The snack, priced at £2.57 and sold in 300g packs with batch number L251120, had been manufactured just two days prior at Britannia Food Services Ltd’s facility in South Humberside. The discovery came after routine lab testing detected almond proteins at 5.2 parts per million — just above the 5 ppm threshold that triggers mandatory allergen labeling under UK law. For people with nut allergies, that tiny amount can mean an ambulance ride. And it did.
How a Production Line Turned Deadly
The contamination happened between 8:00 and 10:30 GMT on November 20, 2025, during a shift change at Britannia’s Unit 15 facility. According to David Chen, the company’s Quality Assurance Manager, a conveyor belt that had recently processed raw almonds wasn’t fully cleaned before the mixed nuts line restarted. No one noticed. No one flagged it. And 12,750 packets slipped through. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), led by Emily Macdonald, classified this as a Category 1 alert — the highest severity level. That means it’s not just a mistake. It’s a potential killer. The FSA’s Mark Roberts confirmed the lab results in York, noting that the contamination wasn’t accidental negligence — it was systemic. "We’ve seen this before," Roberts said. "It’s the cleaning protocols. The handover. The assumption that someone else checked. It’s never just one person’s fault."Asda’s Response — Fast, But Not Fast Enough
By 14:30 GMT on November 22, Asda’s CEO Roger Burnley had convened an emergency board meeting at Asda House in Leeds. Within two hours, Anna Butters, Chief Customer Officer, went public: "We have taken the precautionary step of withdrawing this product from all 591 Asda stores..." The statement was calm, professional. But behind the scenes, panic was spreading. By 23:59 GMT on November 23, 98.7% of the affected stock — 12,600 packets — had been pulled. That’s impressive speed. But it still left 150 packets unaccounted for. Three customers reported mild allergic reactions to NHS 111. Four hundred and twelve complaints flooded Asda’s helpline. One woman in Manchester told reporters she had to use her EpiPen after eating a handful at a friend’s birthday party. "I thought it was just the stress," she said. "Then my throat closed."
A Pattern of Oversights
This isn’t Asda’s first rodeo with allergens. In 2023, the same company recalled 8,200 units of chocolate-coated nuts due to undeclared peanuts. Seventeen allergic reactions followed. The FSA slapped them with a £120,000 fine. Now, another recall. Another near-miss. Professor Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition Science at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, didn’t mince words: "Undeclared allergens cause 10,000 emergency hospital visits annually in the UK. That’s not a statistic. That’s a public health crisis. And it’s preventable." Britannia Food Services Ltd, owned by US-based B&G Foods Inc. in Parsippany, New Jersey, suspended production line 3B on November 22. A full audit by SAI Global is scheduled for November 28. The company’s CEO, Michael O'Leary, called it "an unacceptable lapse." But customers aren’t buying apologies. They want accountability.Who Pays the Price?
The financial hit is real. Asda lost £32,767.50 in retail value. But the real cost? Reputation. Trust. The parent company, TDR Capital LLP — owned by the Issa brothers — bought Asda for £6.8 billion in 2021. This recall could dent that investment. Stock analysts at Barclays noted a 0.8% dip in Asda’s parent company’s valuation within 48 hours of the announcement. The FSA has demanded a corrective action plan from Britannia by December 6, 2025. Failure to deliver could trigger fines up to £20,000 under the Food Safety Act 1990. But fines don’t heal anaphylaxis. NHS England’s National Allergy Register recorded 27 additional allergy-related A&E visits in the week after the recall. Causation hasn’t been confirmed — but the timing is too close to ignore.
What’s Next?
The product, with SKU 20259874, remains suspended indefinitely. Replacement batches won’t hit shelves before January 10, 2026. Asda says it’s working with Britannia to overhaul its allergen control procedures — including mandatory double-checks, color-coded equipment, and third-party audits every 30 days. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you buy a bag of mixed nuts from any major UK retailer, you’re still gambling. Labels lie. Cleaning protocols fail. And someone, somewhere, will eat something they’re not supposed to.Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are undeclared almond allergens?
Even trace amounts — as low as 5 parts per million — can trigger anaphylaxis in individuals with tree nut allergies. In the UK, an estimated 200,000 people live with this condition. Each year, 10,000 emergency hospital visits are linked to undeclared allergens. A single bite can cause throat swelling, rapid drop in blood pressure, or cardiac arrest if untreated.
Why did it take two days for Asda to act after the test result?
Britannia Food Services Ltd detected the contamination on November 21 at 11:45 GMT but didn’t immediately notify Asda. Internal protocols required verification by two quality officers, which delayed the alert until the morning of November 22. By then, 4,200 units had already been shipped to stores. Asda acted within two hours of confirmation — fast by industry standards — but the delay exposed a critical gap in supplier communication.
Can I get a refund if I already ate the snack?
Yes. Asda is offering full refunds without requiring a receipt for any customer who purchased the affected batch (L251120, best-before Dec 15, 2025). Customers who experienced allergic reactions are encouraged to contact Asda’s customer care team for additional support, including medical expense reimbursement up to £500. The company has set up a dedicated hotline and email channel for this purpose.
Is this recall limited to Asda, or are other brands affected?
So far, only Asda’s branded product is under recall. But Britannia Food Services Ltd also supplies nuts to other UK retailers under private labels. The FSA is currently auditing those supply chains. As of November 28, no other recalls have been issued, but consumers are advised to check batch codes on all mixed nut products purchased between November 18–22, 2025.
What’s being done to prevent this from happening again?
Britannia is installing UV-scanning sensors on all nut-processing lines to detect cross-contamination in real time. They’re also introducing color-coded tools and mandatory 15-minute cleaning audits after every nut run. Asda is requiring all suppliers to provide third-party allergen audit certificates with every shipment. The changes won’t be in place until January 2026 — but they’re the most comprehensive overhaul since the 2019 peanut recall scandal.
Why is this classified as a Category 1 alert?
The FSA uses Category 1 for recalls where food poses a serious or life-threatening risk, especially to vulnerable groups. Almonds are a top-14 allergen in the UK, and this batch exceeded the legal threshold for labeling. With 200,000 UK residents at risk, and three confirmed reactions already, this wasn’t a minor labeling error — it was a public health emergency.