A viral chocolate bar inspired by the ‘Dubai chocolate’ trend has been urgently recalled over a health risk it poses to customers.
The Noesis Schokolade Love of Dubai bar should not be bought or eaten, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said, especially by those with a peanut allergy.
Although it is not marked on the list of ingredients, the chocolate bar contains peanuts, the FSA explains. This means it poses a “serious risk” to those with allergies to the nut.
The agency adds that it has been unable to contact the manufacturer of the products, Black Sea Trading Ltd, and so is calling on distributors to pull the Noesis bar from shelves.
Advice from the FSA reads: “Don’t buy this product, and if you have bought it, don’t eat it, especially if you have a peanut allergy.
“Dispose of the product at home and get in touch with your local Trading Standards in Great Britain or Environmental Health Officers in Northern Ireland, to let them know where you purchased it.”
The ‘Love of Dubai’ chocolate bar is 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.
Last week, the FSA issued a related warning over the proliferation of imported Dubai chocolate bars for sale in the UK.
The agency said that some of these products were likely to not include a full ingredients list or allergen labelling, due to not being originally intended for sale in the UK.
The bars could also contain additives and colours not allowed on the UK market, it added.
Experts from the watchdog are currently surveying and sampling the products to determine the scale of the issue, and working with allergy charities to raise awareness.
Professor Robin May, chief scientific adviser to the FSA, said that the “vast majority of food in the UK is safe, but some imported Dubai-style chocolate products don’t meet our standards and could be a food safety risk, especially for consumers with allergies”
“If you are looking to buy Dubai-style chocolate, we advise sticking with trusted retailers, like the ones you’d use for your weekly shop, as products are more likely to be made for UK consumers and so are safe to eat.
“UK law requires food labels to highlight any of 14 allergens present in the product, but some imported products may not do this. You can find more information on food.gov.uk.”
