A brand has been forced to recall its vegan yoghurt - because it's not vegan

A company that sells vegan coconut milk products has been forced to recall its items from the market after they were found to contain dairy.

Endorsed by Nigella Lawson and Ella Woodward, CO YO has had to withdraw all its flavours of dairy free coconut milk yoghurt because it did not declare all of its milk ingredients.

The company revealed it had in fact found traces of dairy milk after product tests.

The coconut-based foods contained a small amount of dairy – which could be dangerous for those with a lactose intolerance.

CO YO said it was “devastated” that its yoghurts aren’t actually vegan.

In a statement, the company said: “During recent product testing, a small amount of dairy has been found in our CO YO 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. ”

The Food Standards Agency sent out a warning to consumers telling them to return the product as it could be a risk to those with allergies.

CO YO blamed their third-party provider for the error.

The company said: “We have also terminated our relationship with the third-party supplier to ensure that this never happens again.

“If you have any COYO product with a Use By date earlier than and including Friday 16th March, please contact the store you purchased from for a full refund. If you have any concerns about any of our products please don’t hesitate to contact us. Once again, we would like to apologise to all our customers for any concern this may have caused.”

It also confirmed it is working with the Food Standards Agency “to make sure any potentially non-dairy material is removed from shop shelves.”

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said: “These products contain milk making them a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents.

“CO YO is recalling the above products from customers and has contacted the relevant allergy support organisations, which will tell their members about the recall.

“The company has also issued a point-of-sale notice to its customers. These notices explain to customers why the products are being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the products.

“If you have bought any of the above products and have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents do not eat it. Instead return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund.”

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