Syringe found inside drink carton

Customers who return the juice will be given a full refund

Sainsbury's has recalled about 120,000 orange juice drinks after a syringe was found inside a carton bought at a store in Bedford.

An investigation has begun at the Sunjuice Ltd factory in Llantrisant, south Wales, which supplied the drink.

Customers are being asked to return one litre cartons of own-brand pure orange juice with juicy bits.

Sainsbury's said it had withdrawn stocks as a precaution and tests had revealed the syringe was "clean".

The supermarket believes this was an isolated incident and no other products were affected.

As a precautionary measure we have withdrawn the product from shelves with immediate effect and issued a product recall Sainsbury's spokeswoman

South Wales Police said it was working closely with the Food Standards Agency, Defra, Sainsbury's, Sunjuice Ltd and Bedfordshire Police.

"Forensic analysis of the carton and the syringe has taken place - no poisons or drugs were detected," it said in a statement.

On Saturday, Sunjuice Ltd confirmed the company had been contacted by Sainsbury's on 31 March and said it was "concerned and distressed" by the incident.

"We want our customers and employees to know that we are taking this very seriously," the statement said.

"As soon as we became aware of the situation, we immediately traced the batch number of the product in question and established exactly where and when it was packed.

"This information was quickly passed to Sainsbury's, and to the police who have mounted a criminal investigation.

Sunjuice is a regular supplier to Sainsbury's

"Sunjuice immediately stopped all production and immediately suspended all deliveries from that factory."

The firm, which said the health and safety of employees and customers was its primary concern, has been helping police with their inquiries and has set up an incident management team to help investigate the cause.

Full refund

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said the syringe "had been tested and there is no evidence of a substance and no contaminants have been found".

"It was traced to one particular batch, produced on 16 March, and was an isolated incident.

"As a precautionary measure we have withdrawn the product from shelves with immediate effect and issued a product recall."

The spokeswoman said the company had also been in discussions with the Food Standards Agency about the incident.

The recall affects all cartons of the juice with use-by dates up to and including 14 May, and customers will be given a full refund when they return the product.

Sunjuice Ltd supplies around 180,000 cartons of the orange juice to Sainsbury's every week.