Warning on supplements sold by diet guru Tim Spector… after they are found to be laced with ‘tiny bits of metal’

A ‘microbiome-boosting’ supplement sold by diet and nutrition guru Professor Tim Spector has been urgently recalled due to possible contamination with dangerous shards of stone and metal.

Regulator the Food Standards Agency (FSA) this morning issued a recall for the ZOE Daily 30+ 7 Day supplement pack.

They warned that the supplement, which comes as a coarse powder containing 30 different plants and boasts that it is “naturally high in copper,” “may contain small stones and small pieces of metal.”

Waitrose, the only supermarket to sell the ZOE pack for £13.50, has launched a recall for batches with a best before date of September 30 next year.

It is not detailed how stone and metal ended up in the product.

FSA said those who purchased the affected batches should return them to Waitrose for a full refund.

ZOE, the diet company co-founded by Professor Spector, launched the Daily 30+ range earlier this year.

The aim is to aid digestion by providing material from 30 plants, including seven fruits and vegetables, eight mushrooms, five herbs, six seeds, three nuts and two legumes and whole grains.

Professor Spector launched the Daily 30+ range earlier this year

The supplement is intended to be added to savory meals such as pasta or grilled meat and vegetables, eggs on toast, salads or breakfast bowls.

Each scoop contains 5g of fiber, approximately one-sixth of the recommended amount for adults.

ZOE’s website states that the variety of plant foods in the product support a healthy gut microbiome, the collection of beneficial organisms such as bacteria that live in your digestive system.

This in turn helps support normal bowel movements and the high-density minerals and vitamins also help boost energy levels, the makers claim.

ZOE has received a number of celebratory messages of support, including brand ambassador Davina McCall, who has previously spoken about using the ZOE app to track her diet.

‘How my body reacts to food now is so different than when I was in my twenties and thirties. Thanks to ZOE, I know how to eat for the stage of life I am in now,” she previously said.

The TV presenter has also previously appeared in social media posts promoting ZOE’s controversial probiotic yoghurt drink.

“Just one bottle a day can support your gut health, and you can track it through the ZOE app,” she wrote on Instagram.

Waitrose, the only supermarket to sell the ZOE pack for £13.50, has launched a recall for batches with a best before date of September 30 next year

Dragons Den’s star and ZOE investor Steven Bartlett is another who has endorsed the brand’s products, previously describing the ZOE Daily 30+ supplement as a ‘revolution’.

“No ultra-processed pills, no shakes, just real food,” reads a testimonial from him on ZOE’s website.

ZOE social media ads featuring Bartlett were previously banned for ‘misleading’ customers by failing to disclose his financial stake in the brand.

A ZOE spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘In initiating this recall, we are acting out of an abundance of caution to maintain our high quality standards.

“The issue was discovered at one of our critical control points in the supply chain and is therefore under a full review.”

‘We take product quality very seriously and try to address the problem quickly and effectively. Customers will have the option to get their order back or have it replaced.’