I think I may have found a new supplier…

In a recent blog post I lamented about my difficult in finding packs of Santa Maria Colombian Crunchy Chicken Bites Seasoned Corn Coating.

However I am now having real trouble finding it in my local supermarkets, Morrisons no longer sell it, my local Waitrose had it on special for a while, but now it’s no longer on the shelves. In theory it’s available at Asda, but I have never seen it at my nearest branch.

Since I wrote that, I have found it on Ocado, so have added a few packs to my basket for my next delivery.

Don’t eat the pork!

The pork crisis in Ireland is hitting headlines all over the UK.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is currently saying

Pork from the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland should not be eaten at the moment due to contamination fears.

 

One of my favourite foods at the moment are Paul Rankin’s Irish Pork Sausages which are made in Ballymena, Northern Ireland by Doherty & Gray Limited.

How do I know this I looked at the packaging and this has the physical and web address on it.

Paul Rankin’s Irish sausages

No update or advice on their website about their products. If you are going to have a website, ensure that you use it to let us consumers know what is happening.

So how can Waitrose say:

Waitrose has withdrawn two sausage lines sold under Northern Irish celebrity chef Paul Rankin’s brand as a precaution, although a spokeswoman for the supermarket stressed that the origin of the meat was still being checked.

I would have thought it was obviously Northern Ireland, though I am guessing that this is not 100% certain it is Irish pork, I would hope that it was otherwise I am feeling I have been misled in buying the product – dioxin contamination aside.

Doherty & Gray should in my opinion at least post something to their website to let consumers know what is happening. I am seeing a large number of people visit this blog who have concerns, but I am in the same boat as them.

Disappointed to also see that the online arm of Waitrose, Ocado is still “selling” the Rankin sausages on their website.

No idea if you actually order them that they would deliver them.

Like others who have commented on my blog, I have recently eaten Paul Rankin’s sausages (just yesterday) and my family and I eat them on a regular basis. Despite the FSA assurance that the “risk” is slight, it is still a risk. If it isn’t a risk why are they now saying don’t eat the pork!