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Gourmet Organic Herbs ground coriander recalled over salmonella contamination

Marissa Calligeros

Gourmet Organic Herbs ground coriander.
Gourmet Organic Herbs ground coriander.Supplied

Thousands of packets of ground coriander contaminated with salmonella have been recalled from Victorian supermarket shelves.

Gourmet Organic Herbs uncovered the salmonella contamination in its ground coriander on Monday and immediately began recalling more than 2000 packets on the market.

The ground coriander, which is imported from India, has been on the market since August and is sold in fruit and vegetable shops, health food stores and independent stores including IGA supermarkets.

"The product is being recalled due to microbial (salmonella) contamination," said Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

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The company's owner Anibal Zarate said he was not aware of anyone becoming sick as a result of the contamination.

Zarate said the contamination was detected through routine testing on Monday.

"We have an internal testing process in place and through that internal testing we picked up the contamination," he said.

"It's obviously an issue we have taken very seriously and as soon as we found out we started the process of the recall."

Zarate said it appeared the ground coriander had been contaminated before it was imported.

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"We've got strong processes in place within our business for food safety and food handling, so I can only imagine that it was contaminated when we received it," he said.

Anyone who is concerned about consuming the product should seek medical advice, Food Standards Australia New Zealand said.

The recalled batch numbers include BN218705-03 and BN222302-02.

Any consumer who has a packet of the spice with those batch numbers can return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Earlier this year, a salmonella outbreak at the Langham Hotel left 90 diners violently ill and 16 in hospital.

Raw egg mayonnaise was the cause of the salmonella poisoning in July.

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