Claimants include family of 11-year-old girl who spent three weeks on dialysis after eating chicken salad sandwich

Tesco and Asda are being sued by customers, including the family of an 11-year-old girl, who were left seriously ill after eating own-brand sandwiches linked to an outbreak of E coli.

The supermarkets face legal action after a child and adult were left in hospital. One person has been confirmed to have died and more than 120 others including a six-year-old have been hospitalised in the UK due to the bacteria.

UK GDP rose by 0.7% in January-March, according to the latest quarterly national accounts which show the state of the UK economy

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, has spotted good news on the economy in today’s GDP report:

Within the service sector, the highest rate of growth was for the professional, scientific and technical activities sectors, which rose by 1.8%.

This was driven by a 7.2% increase in research and development and a 3.3% increase in legal activities. These are high value activities for the UK economy, and growth in this area bodes well for the future of the UK. This may go some way to mitigating the decline in business investment last quarter.

The latest UK GDP data shows that Britain’s economy grew quicker than expected in the first quarter of the year, expanding by 0.7% from the previous quarter. This shows that the UK economy still showed slow growth, rather than the most timely monthly estimate that showed no growth in April 2024.

Particularly, services grew by 0.8% on the quarter with widespread growth across the sector; elsewhere the production sector grew by 0.6% while the construction sector fell by 0.6%.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK central bank publishes its new financial stability report

• Global wave of elections could hit UK financial system, warns Bank of England

Just in: Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, has left interest rates on hold at 3.75%.

But it also hints that rates could be cut as many as three times in the second half of 2024 if inflation prospects remain the same.

Inflation is close to the target and economic activity is weak. The Executive Board considers that monetary policy should be adjusted gradually, and has decided to hold the policy rate unchanged at 3.75%.

Research discovers the cost of some healthcare products fluctuates wildly, according to time of year you buy them

Dentists agree that brushing twice a day is the best way to look after your teeth. But depending on what month it is, dental hygiene can be a dramatically more expensive habit to maintain.

New research has shown that the cost of a tube of toothpaste at some times of the year can be double its price at other times. The price of other popular health products such as Gillette razors can also double depending when they are bought.