Recall update from Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd.

Ham Suelze voluntarily recalled; all products manufactured by Brandt Meat Packers' facility for Freybe removed from distribution

LANGLEY, BC, July 28 /CNW/ - Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd. (Freybe) has been working in cooperation with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as Freybe-brand Ham Suelze may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. While no illnesses associated with the product have been reported, Freybe withdrew all Ham Suelze from stores on July 21 and is now voluntarily recalling all product while further testing continues. Consumers are advised not to consume and to discard all Ham Suelze purchased up to July 24 from over-the-counter delis. The product was distributed to Overwaitea Food Group (which includes Save-on-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Urban Fare and Cooper's Foods), Thrifty Foods, IGA, Federated Co-op and Fairway stores, as well as other smaller delis in Western Canada and Ontario.

The Ham Suelze is manufactured for Freybe by Brandt Meat Packers (Establishment number 164) at the same facility in Mississauga, Ontario as the Headcheese that was recalled due to a salmonella contamination on July 14 (http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/14/c4335.html). The Headcheese and Ham Suelze are the only two Freybe-branded products manufactured at the facility. No other Freybe-branded products are affected by the voluntary recalls. Brandt Meat Packers is fully cooperating with both Freybe and the CFIA as tests continue to determine any potential links between the Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella contaminations.

"When we announced the Headcheese recall on July 14, we immediately halted the manufacturing and distribution of both Headcheese and Ham Suelze indefinitely to keep the products out of circulation while plant testing continued," said Sven Freybe, president and CEO of Freybe Gourmet Foods. "Our consumers' wellbeing is our top priority, so we're using extreme caution and voluntarily recalling all Ham Suelze product manufactured and distributed prior to the Headcheese recall. We will continue working with the CFIA and Brandt Meat Packers until we have a thorough and clear understanding of how these contaminations occurred."

Freybe will provide further information about the test results as they become available. In the meantime, the company is grateful to its customers for their decades of continued loyalty.

About Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd.

Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd. was established in 1844 by Johann Karl Freybe in Stettin, Germany. More than 165 years and six generations later, the Freybe family company has grown to more than 400 associates and proudly produces more than 160 varieties of sausages, ham and specialty deli meats for customers across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Japan. Freybe Gourmet Food's state-of-the-art production facility in Langley, B.C is equipped with the most advanced technology and showcases a design based on strict environmental and optimum food safety requirements. Built by the design philosophy, "Tradition, Technology, People, Nature," the sophisticated facility has been recognized with several prestigious awards including the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. Medal for Architecture and the National Post Design Award for Architecture.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information: Yvonne Yuen, Mobile [phone], Office 604-488-1100, [email protected]