Patients do not need to return the products but have been advised to ‘be vigilant for any visible contamination and contact a healthcare professional if they have any concerns related to the product’
Two major supermarkets have issued an urgent recall over “contaminated” cough syrup – with the public urged to remain ‘vigilant’ for affected batches of the medicine.
A Class 2 medicines recall notice published by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) listed four affected products. There were certain batches of Tesco Health Dry Cough Relief 200ml, Asda Strong Dry Tickly Cough 200ml, Almus Dry Cough Relief and Bells Dual Action Dry Cough
Batches of the products were distributed between September 2022 and November last year meaning some could have been purchased by the public. The affected products all contain dextromethorphan hydrobromide, which temporarily relieves coughs caused by the common cold, flu or other respiratory conditions.
The notice reads: “Bells Healthcare is recalling the listed batches of dextromethorphan hydrobromide BP containing products as a precautionary measure, due to foreign material detected in some bottles. The contamination was identified by a single customer complaint and the investigation and analysis remains ongoing.
“Bells Healthcare is taking precautionary action to recall the potentially impacted batches at Retail, Pharmacy and Wholesaler level and this issue may impact a number of different liveries, as listed in this notification.
In it’s advice for patients, the notice continued: “No action is required by patients as this is a Pharmacy, Retailer and Wholesaler level recall. Patients should be vigilant for any visible contamination and contact a healthcare professional if they have any concerns related to the product.
“Patients who experience adverse reactions or have any questions about the medication, should seek medical attention. Any suspected adverse reactions should also be reported via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.’
The recall notice also advises retailers to “stop supplying the listed batches immediately” and to “quarantine all remaining stock and return it to your supplier using your supplier’s approved process”.
Affected products and expiry dates
Tesco Health Dry Cough Relief 200ml
Batch number/expiry date:
- 235B1 01/09/2025
- 240C3 01/03/2026
- 242C1 01/07/2026
- 245C3 01/09/2026
Asda Strong Dry Tickly Cough 200ml
Batch number/expiry date:
- 236B1 01/12/2025
- 240C2 01/03/2026
- 243C1 01/08/2026
- 245C2 01/09/2026
- 246C1 01/11/2027
- 247D1 01/02/2027
- 248D1 01/04/2027
- 250D1 01/07/2027
Almus Dry Cough Relief
Batch number/expiry date:
Bells Dual Action Dry Cough
Batch number/expiry date:
- 237C1 01/01/2026
- 238C1 01/01/2026
- 239C1 01/01/2026
- 242C2 01/07/2026
- 243C2 01/08/2026
