A week after it was revealed that Unilever, the producer of Telma brand cornflakes products, had destroyed tens of thousands of boxes of cereal amid fears of contamination, company officials have advised the public to dispose of any cornflakes not in their original box.

Last Thursday Unilever issued a public statement at the behest of the Health Ministry, acknowledging that contaminants had been found at one of the company’s production lines in the southern town of Arad.

Unilever’s initial statement also denied the possibility that any contaminated products had reached store shelves or that the public was at any risk.

On Friday, however, Telma issued its own statement, warning consumers not to eat any cornflakes – including the “Kokoman” chocolate-coated cornflakes – whose date and production number cannot be verified, acknowledging that customers were indeed at risk.

“If you happen to have any bags of cornflakes without the box, we recommend against consuming them (even though the chance of any problems is low) and to contact our customer service line for a replacement product – please send us your personal information in a private message and we will deal with it quickly.”

The about-face came following reports that a woman in Petah Tikva had purchased a box of cornflakes produced while the assembly line was contaminated. This despite claims no products from the period in question had reached store shelves.