Health « Thurles Information

FSAI Warn Recall Of M & S Smooth Butternut Squash Soup.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland warn of recall of a batch of M & S Smooth Butternut Squash Soup due to the possible presence of small pieces of metal.

Alert Summary dated Tuesday, October 1st 2024.

Category 1: For Action.
Alert Notification: 2024.45.
Product Identification: M & S Smooth Butternut Squash Soup; pack size: 600g.
Batch Code Use by 06/10/2024.
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom.

Message: Marks & Spencer are recalling the above batch of its Smooth Butternut Squash Soup, due to the possible presence of small pieces of metal. Recall notices will be displayed at point-of-sale.

Action Required:
Retailers: Same are requested to remove the implicated batch from sale and display a recall notice at the point-of-sale.

Consumers: Customers are advised not to consume the implicated batch.

Almost 100 Cases Prosecuted Under Coco’s Law.

Almost 100 cases prosecuted under Coco’s Law have now been published.

Legislation criminalising the sharing of, or threatening to share intimate images without a person’s consent, and distributing, publishing or sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication to another person, introduced in 2021 has been reviewed.
Almost 100 cases have been prosecuted by the DPP over the review period, with charges from An Garda Síochána increasing year-on-year.
Success of national awareness campaigns in informing public of the legislation.

An operational review of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as ‘Coco’s Law’ (named after Nicole ‘Coco’ Fox), shows that almost 100 cases have been prosecuted since it came into effect.

The legislation criminalises the sharing of, or threatening to share intimate images, without a person’s consent, with or without intent to cause harm to the victim.

The Act also seeks to target other areas of harmful communications by creating a new offence of distributing, publishing, or sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication with intent to cause harm and to extend the current offence of harassment to deal with communications about a person, as well as communications to a person.

The review was carried out by the Department of Justice and found positive early indicators in terms of prosecutions taken, the number of reports of intimate image abuse made to a hotline for illegal content, and general awareness of the legislation.

The review found that the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions had taken a total of 99 cases in respect of section 2, 3 or 4 of the Act, between its commencement and the end of 2023.
This included:

A total of 23 cases prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit Court.
The DPP consented to summary disposal on guilty plea for eight cases.
The DPP directed summary disposal on 68 cases.
One case was prosecuted on indictment in the Central Criminal Court.

The review also found that the number of charges issued by An Garda Síochána had risen between commencement in 2021 and the end of 2023. In 2021, there were 22 charges brought. In 2022, that rose to 95, and in 2023 it rose again to 113.

The review noted independent research from August 2021, which found that 69% thought it was against the law to share intimate images without consent, and 51% thought it was against the law to threaten to share intimate images.

A follow up piece of research conducted in November 2023 found that those figures had jumped to 97% and 96%, after the public awareness campaign.

As part of the awareness campaign, the Department of Justice partnered with Hotline.ie to provide a widely accessible reporting mechanism for victims of intimate image abuse. Once illegal content is reported to Hotline, their experts assess the report and decide on next steps.

Any online service provider served by Hotline.ie with an intimate image abuse notice is responsible for removing the content at source.

The review found that, between September 2021 and December 2023, almost 1,500 reports were made to Hotline.ie, which, after assessment, were found to be intimate image abuse.

Some 1,006 of these were images or videos shared without the person’s consent via publicly accessible web-locations;. Hotline.ie was able to get 92% removed.

Hotline.ie also received more than 400 reports relating to threat to share intimate images. This included 366 cases of sexual extortion and 27 threats to share intimate images for harassment purposes.

Incorrectly Declared Crustaceans & Fish On Tasty Nibbles Pickle Products.

Alert Summary dated Friday, September 27th 2024.

Allergy Alert Notification: 2024.A35
Allergens: Crustaceans and Fish
Product Identification: Tasty Nibbles Anchovy Pickle; pack size 400g; Tasty Nibbles Sardine Pickle; pack size 400g; Tasty Nibbles Prawn Pickle; pack size 400g
Batch Code: All batches and all best-before dates.

Message:
All batches of Tasty Nibbles Anchovy Pickle and Sardine Pickle contain fish which are incorrectly declared on the label. All batches of Tasty Nibbles Prawn Pickle contain crustaceans which are incorrectly declared on the label.

This may make the products unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of crustaceans and/or fish.

Recall Of Mlekpol Zloty Mazur Cheese – Possible Salmonella Newport.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland recall a batch of Mlekpol Zloty Mazur Cheese In Slices due to the possible presence of Salmonella Newport.

Alert Summary dated Thursday, September 26th 2024.

Category 1: For Action
Alert Notification: 2024.44
Product Identification: Mlekpol Zloty Mazur Cheese In Slices, pack size: 150g; approval number PL 20041601WE
Batch Code: 30.08/P6; best before date: 28/11/2024
Country Of Origin: Poland

Message:
The above batch of Mlekpol Zloty Mazur Cheese is being recalled due to the possible presence of Salmonella Newport. Recall notices will be displayed at point-of-sale.

Nature Of Danger:
People infected with Salmonella typically develop symptoms between 12 and 36 hours after infection, but this can range between 6 and 72 hours. The most common symptom is diarrhoea, which can sometimes be bloody. Other symptoms may include fever, headache and abdominal cramps. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Diarrhoea can occasionally be severe enough to require hospital admission. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

Action Required by Manufacturers, Distributors, Retailers and Consumers:

Wholesalers/Distributors are requested to contact their affected customers and recall the implicated batch and provide a point-of-sale recall notice to their retailer customers.
Retailers are requested to remove the implicated batch from sale and display a recall notice at point-of-sale.

Consumers: Are advised not to eat the implicated batch.

Efforts To Understand Overcrowding At Mid-West Region Hospitals.

Here in the Mid-west region, which includes North Tipperary, there have been considerable complaints about the current state of our health services.

This in mind, Thurles.Info set up cameras, covertly, within the reception area of one of our medical establishment, (Facility shall remain nameless); in an effort to try and understand the problems within our health service, particularly regarding the situation where the number of individuals or objects occupying a particular space exceeds its intended or optimal capacity.

This video, shown above, will now be sent to the area dealing with health complaints procedures, and forwarded to the Minister Mr Stephen Donnelly TD, in the hope that the sending of same is not over complicated and hopefully will not causes adverse frustration within the service itself.