Sandwiches produced by Great Northern Sandwich (GNS) Company for Spar have had to be recalled because they contain “blue” meat .

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the “discolouration” on the meat might indicate the sandwiches were unfit to eat.

Products recalled include Spar & Honest Crust Chicken/Stuffing Barm, Spar & Honest Crust Chicken Salad Sandwich and Spar & Crust Chicken Stuffing Sandwich, all with use-by dates of up to an including February 10.

Others affected are GNS Triple BLT/Chicken Salad/Ham & Cheese Sandwich, GNS Chicken/Pesto.Tomato Sub Roll and GNS Chicken/Bacon/Mayo Sub Roll with the same use-by dates.

Shops selling the sandwiches have been told to display notices explaining why the products are being recalled “as a precautionary measure” and telling customers what to do if they have bought them.

GNS is owned by James Hall the Spar wholesaler that serves more than 600 stores in the North of England.

James Hall launched the sandwich operation in Blackpool in 2009 supplying more than 100,000 sandwiches per week to more than 540 stores, according to the company website.

Tommy Hooper, manager of Spar in Scotland Road, Liverpool, said he had just one sandwich left with the Feb 10 use-by date but it did not include chicken. The chicken, bacon and mayo roll in stock had a February 11 use-by date.

“If anything’s wrong with any products, customers usually return them pretty quickly,” he said.

Marie Hogarth, manager at Spar Eaves Lane, in Chorley, Lancashire, said the store received an email on Tuesday afternoon about the recall.

“No one’s returned any to this store,” she said. “We’ve got a bakery next door so we don’t sell a lot of sandwiches.”

James Hall head office referred Convenience Store to Spar’s spokeswoman who said she had no further information about the recall.

The FSA said the blue discolouration was currently under investigation but it was too early for any results.

No one had reported harmful effects from eating the sandwiches and the investigation would identify if they could be any health risk.

“It is believed that only a few Spar stores in the North West of England and two in Wales were supplied with these sandwiches – however, the distribution of the product is part of the ongoing investigation, a spokeswoman said.

  • Sainsbury’s has recalled seven Stir Fry Products that “might be contaminated with salmonella”. They have a use-by date of up to and including February 13.