Salmonella found in Aldi chocolates

Customers of the discount chain who bought 200g packs of Choceur Treasures with a best before date of September 1 2015 have been asked to return the items and warned not to eat them by food safety officials.

The products, which consist of hazelnut wrapped in waffle and milk chocolate, were only on sale in Aldi stores in the Midlands - in towns and cities including Birmingham, Worcester, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Grantham.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced the product recall, saying: “If you have bought the above product, do not eat it. Instead, return the product to the nearest store.”

The FSA said no other Choceur or Aldi products are affected.

Salmonella, which is normally caused by eating contaminated food, can cause food poisoning with symptoms including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever.

It typically takes between 12 and 72 hours for the symptoms to develop, and they last for four to seven days, with most people recovering without treatment.

Chocolate giant Cadbury was fined £1 million after a salmonella outbreak in which a total of 42 people fell ill in 2006.