Multiple bars of Dubai-style chocolate have been recalled as consumers are warned of undisclosed nuts in the products.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a warning over three bars of Dubai-style chocolates due to peanuts, almonds, cashews, and walnuts in the product which are not mentioned on the labelling.
Noesis, Fix it and Le Damas Dubai-style chocolate products are all included in the warning, which advises consumers and food businesses to take action to “avoid risk to health”.
People with an allergy to peanuts or other types of nuts have been told to not buy the products and to not eat them if they have already bought them.
“We are notifying consumers and food businesses who have purchased any of the Dubai-style chocolate products listed below as these products contain peanuts and other types of nuts (almonds, cashews and walnuts) which are not all mentioned on the labelling, making it a possible health risk to anyone with an allergy to peanuts or other types of nuts,” the FSA said.
“Food businesses selling the Dubai-style chocolate products listed below are advised to immediately stop sales and to undertake product withdrawals, and where there have been retail sales, to undertake product recalls. This is because the product presents a serious risk to anyone with an allergy to peanuts or other types of nuts.”
It added that businesses have been supplied these products by a company called Black Sea Trading Ltd, which has so far been uncontactable.
Le Damas Sweets LLC, which makes Le Damas chocolate, has since told The Independent that the product listed in the FSA’s recall notice is a counterfeit and was not produced, distributed, or authorised by the firm.
“We wish to reassure our customers and retail partners that the product in question is not an authentic Le Damas item,” said a spokesperson for Le Damas. “It is a counterfeit that falsely uses our branding and does not meet our safety, quality, or design standards,” a spokesperson said.
The chocolate bars are inspired by a viral food trend that arose in 2024 and has continued. It centres around chocolate bars with a creamy pistachio filling, first created by a chocolatier in Dubai.
Receiving millions of views on social media platform TikTok, the popularity of the bar has grown so intense that the price of pistachio kernels globally has been pushed up. Experts say that, in the year to April, prices rose from $7.65 to $10.30 a pound.
