In mid-June 2024 the UK saw a short burst of recalls naming sandwiches, wraps and salads. A year on, recall activity has normalised, labels across the big retailers converge on “use within 24 hours once opened,” and the system that pulls unsafe food is moving faster. This is what shoppers and supermarket leaders need to know.
Are Pre-Packed Salads Safe in 2025?
Bottom line (quick answer): UK ready-to-eat (RTE) salads are managed, not risk-free. A June 2024 spike in shopper-facing recalls did not repeat in the same March–June window of 2025. Most packs now tell you to use within 24 hours once opened. If an FSA Food Alert for Action (FAFA) names your product, do not eat it—return or dispose.
What actually happened (dates and names, not vibes)
- 11 May 2024: Bread Spread Ltd began a recall over food law breaches affecting chilled, ready-to-eat foods; on 16 May this escalated to a FAFA, instructing immediate removal from sale (use-by dates up to 18–20 May 2024, per official PDFs).
- 10 June 2024: The Real Wrap Company recalled ready-to-eat products because of Listeria monocytogenes; notices covered use-by dates 9–10 June.
- 14 June 2024: Two precautionary E. coli (STEC) recalls—
• Greencore Group: sandwiches, wraps and salads sold through multiple retailers.
• Samworth Brothers Manton Wood: Tesco/One Stop sandwiches and wraps. - 16 June 2024: THIS! recalled a Chicken & Bacon wrap sold at WH Smith as a precaution related to the outbreak.
UKHSA’s formal investigation concluded the likely vehicle was sandwiches containing lettuce, supported by multiple independent epidemiological analyses; the implicated businesses voluntarily recalled lettuce-containing sandwiches and wraps on 14 June 2024.
Why this matters: It was a tight, well-documented burst (11 May–16 June 2024) that hit exactly what people buy for lunch. There’s no comparable repeat in spring 2025. The episode forced a closer look at how quickly signals become withdrawals—and how clearly packs instruct households once a bag is opened.
Why labels now say “use within 24 hours once opened”
Look at current product pages and you’ll see near-uniform wording on bagged leaves:
- Tesco Mixed Leaf Salad 120g: “Once opened, consume within 1 day and by ‘use by’ date shown.”
- Tesco Classic Side Salad 120g: “Once opened, consume within 24 hours
- ASDA Watercress, Spinach & Rocket 120g: “Once opened … consume within 24 hours.”
- Morrisons (Florette) Mixed 125g: “… once opened use within 24 hours.”
One or two lines in specialist ranges may differ (e.g., 2 days on a rocket blend), but the dominant instruction is 24 hours after opening. The logic is practical: once a pack is opened, moisture + handling + variable fridge temperatures increase risk; labels push consumers to finish quickly. FSA’s own public advice also stresses chilling below 5°C, use-by compliance, and following storage instructions on ready-to-eat foods.
What changed behind the scenes—and what didn’t
- Speed and structure: The sequence in May–June 2024—escalation to FAFA for Bread Spread, followed by precautionary recalls for lettuce-containing sandwiches/wraps—shows the system moving fast from signal → public alert → withdrawal. The FSA’s 2024/25 incidents report notes the May 2024 rise in severe STEC and the institutional response to shorten the path from detection to removal.
- Risk is seasonal and water-linked: UKHSA’s outbreak page is blunt: lettuce in sandwiches was the likely vehicle. That risk spikes with warm weather and water quality variability; you can reduce it with upstream controls, but you won’t make it zero.
- Hospital burden was real: UKHSA reported hundreds of confirmed O145 cases during the outbreak period, with hospitalisations; the risk curve fell as recalls and public messaging landed.
What to do at home (service you can use)
- Use-by means use-by—and 24 hours once opened is the working rule on most salad packs today. Keep the product cold end-to-end.
- During a recall: If a notice names your item, don’t eat it; follow FSA instructions for returns/disposal. FAFA notices mean immediate removal from sale.
- About washing: Rinsing bagged leaves can remove debris, but doesn’t reliably remove pathogens; studies show tap-water washing has limited effect on bacterial load. Risk reduction comes more from upstream controls and cold chain than a home sink rinse.
For retail & supplier leaders: the one KPI that earns trust
Make time-to-withdrawal your headline KPI: hours from the first credible signal to POS removal and a clear consumer notice. That’s what the public actually experiences, and it’s the cleanest read-out of your investments in traceability, lab capacity, and verification cadence. The FAFA/precautionary pattern in June 2024 is the template—move fast, communicate plainly, and standardise on-pack instructions so households don’t guess.
How we reported this
GSN reviewed named FSA alerts (Bread Spread FAFA; Real Wrap Listeria; Greencore and Samworth precautionary STEC recalls; THIS! wrap recall), UKHSA’s outbreak investigation (lettuce in sandwiches as the likely vehicle), and current retailer product pages to document on-pack storage instructions. We prioritised what is verifiable today and directly affects shoppers’ decisions.
In plain English: the 2024 spike was short and specific; spring 2025 was quiet; and packs now tell you to finish opened salad within a day. When risk appears, the machine pulls fast—that’s the habit worth reinforcing.
