Richard Kornman of Leonards Superior Smallgoods said yesterday the second recall of its products in a week was due to part bad luck and part due to a lack of news for media to report on.

Today, Kornman said a staff member could have introduced listeria to the factory by failing to follow hygiene procedures in the company’s "high care" area, where the packaged, cold meats were sliced.

Kornman also said the company had been caught in the crossfire of criticism directed toward some district health boards, and that he knew of other companies which had been caught out several times in similar situations but had never been subjected to the same media scrutiny.

Kornman noted the company had been supplying the meat for more than 10 years and it was the first issue it had in that time.