The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued the recall yesterday (June 20) for 15 batches of cough syrup (see a full list below) sold across Numark pharmacies, Superdrug, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Wilko stores.

The batches are all produced by Bell, Sons & Co, which told C+D it is “still undergoing investigations as to the cause”.

“We’ve got some strong indications [of] what the cause is and once we've [confirmed] that, we will take the necessary steps to prevent this happening again,” it added.

”A precautionary measure”

The MHRA said the recall is a “precautionary measure” following a “small number of reports of mould”.

“All retailers and wholesale customers have been notified and stock is already being recalled at store level,” it said. “Patients are being asked to return bottles from the above batches to the shop they bought it from.”

“At the time of writing, the MHRA has not received any reports of adverse drug reactions relating to this issue,” it stressed.

“The mould has been identified as Penicillium decumbens, Penicillium corylophilum and Penicillium brevicompactum,” it added. “Although these moulds may be inactivated in the stomach, there is a low potential risk of systemic infection in younger or immunocompromised children, causing symptoms of infection such as fever.”

Read the MHRA's recall alert here.

Multiples react

Numark and Rowlands parent company Phoenix told C+D that all Phoenix customers – including Numark members – have been alerted, as have all Rowlands branches.

Superdrug told C+D that “even though there is a low risk of a reaction, we have taken the precautionary step of recalling all our own-brand children’s blackcurrant cough syrup from our shelves.”

The multiple is also issuing a poster to its stores today to inform its customers, as well as emailing those who have already bought the product, it added.