COYO ‘devastated’ after traces of milk found in vegan yoghurt

Vegan yoghurt and ice cream maker COYO has apologized for the ‘precautionary product removal’ now in place after traces of milk were found in its dairy-free yoghurts.

After a ‘thorough review’ of ingredients, COYO states the source of the contamination has been identified as coming from a third-party supplier; the brand claims this relationship has now been ‘terminated’.

The Food Standards Agency warns the dairy traces found in the products pose a ‘possible health risk to anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk’ and states that the recall applies to yoghurts of all flavours with a use-by date before and including 16 March, with the following batch codes: 180115, 180116, 180118, 180119, 180122 to 180126, 180130, 180131, 180201, 180202 and 180205 to 180209.

We are devastated by this, especially as being dairy-free sits at the heart of everything we do

In a public statement, a COYO representative said: “During recent product testing, a small amount of dairy has been found in our COYO yoghurts. We are devastated by this, especially as being dairy-free sits at the heart of everything we do and we’ve always taken great care to ensure we provide our customers with high-quality, dairy-free products, made in our own dairy-free factory.

“As a precautionary measure, and to ensure that our customers can continue to have confidence that our products are dairy-free, we are working with the Food Standards Agency and local government organizations to make sure any potentially non-dairy material is removed from shop shelves. We have also terminated our relationship with the third-party supplier to ensure that this never happens again.”