Cheese impounded as new batch tests positive for E.coli
Producer to keep cheese locked up pending decision from sheriff
SEVEN tonnes of cheese made by an artisan producer at the centre of a food-poisoning outbreak in which a three-year-old girl died are at the centre of a legal wrangle after a fresh batch tested positive for E.coli.
South Lanarkshire Council planned to take the stock from Errington Cheese but the producer gained a court order to keep it at its base while a sheriff decides whether it will be destroyed.
The cheese will remain under lock and key except for the regular “brushing” it requires to stop it from deteriorating. The firm had argued that the council did not have adequate storage in the latest twist in an ongoing food safety battle.
The batches seized were Corra Linn, a hard cheese made from sheep’s milk, which now joins Lanark Blue and Dunsyre Blue as banned produce made by Errington.
Errington’s lawyers are expected to argue in favour of the safety of the cheeses when a court date is set within the next few weeks, possibly in the same hearing.
A Health Protection Scotland report into the outbreak last year that resulted in the Dunbartonshire child’s death and the illness of 17 people – allegedly caused by cheese – is due to be completed this month.
Owner Humphrey Errington said: “We pointed out that the storage provided must allow us access to brush the cheese every few days and also that the temperature and humidity would have to be right.
“And we explained our worry about the possibility of damage to and contamination of the cheese during removal and transport – the Corra Linn not wrapped.
“We learned in a telephone conversation with the environmental health officers that they intended to remove the cheese to storage where the conditions were such that they accepted the cheese would become unfit to eat.”
“This news, that in effect they is intended to destroy an entire year’s production, almost seven tonnes, was devastating and we were determined we had to do whatever we could to stop the removal.
“We went to the Court of Session where the authorities backed down and agreed to leave the cheese where it is, in exchange for our agreement not to sell any until the Sheriff in Lanark has made a decision as to its fitness for consumption.”
Michael McGlynn, executive director of community and enterprise at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Since the Food Alert was issued by Food Standards Scotland, South Lanarkshire Council has acted with the clear principle of protecting public safety.
“At all times we have undertaken to do that through proportionate action.
“As part of that proportionate action, three weeks ago we detained batches of Corra Linn produced by Errington Cheese so that tests could be carried out to determine their safety.
“Test results on a batch of this Corra Linn last Friday confirmed the presence of E.Coli. Because of the nature of the batch in which E.Coli was detected, the council considers there is potential for contamination to have occurred.
“The cheese has been seized with the intention of placing it before a sheriff with a request that it be condemned.”
‘‘ This news was devastating and we were determined to do whatever we could to stop the removal