Cheese was cause of E.coli outbreak, says HPS report

● Errington Cheeses has called for further investigation

0 An official report into an outbreak of E.coli in which a young girl died identified Dunsyre Blue cheese as the source of the bacteria An official report into the E.coli outbreak which last year killed a three-year-old girl and saw around 17 people hospitalised has claimed that Dunsyre Blue was the source of the bacteria.

The incident report, published today by Health Protection Scotland, said that “extensive investigations” had concluded that the bug had been able to enter the food chain during the production process at Errington Cheeses.

The company deniedthe claims and insisted that “more detailed investigations into the cause of the outbreak are needed”.

Last summer’s outbreak has been the subject of a longrunning legal battle after the cheese and all other products made by the Lanark-based artisan cheesemaker were taken off the market and subsequently destroyed by South Lanarkshire Council last year. It was told earlier this month that it could continue to produce its Lanark Blue cheese, following a new testing regime that requires the firm to test its raw milk five times a day for pathogens.

Today’s report said: “Exten- sive investigations concluded that the source of the outbreak was the consumption of Dunsyre Blue. This was based on evidence from epidemiological and food chain investigations and supported by microbiological evidence and deficiencies identified in the procedures for the monitoring and control of STEC at the food business.”

Errington has claimed that independent testing has proved that its cheeses did not have pathogenic E.coli (known as Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli or STEC) present. A court in Lanark will next month test the evidence against the company.

A statement from Errington, which has previa ously claimed that the authorities are attempting to curb production of raw milk cheeses north of the Border, said that it still did not not believe that the report showed that any evidence linked its cheeses specifically to the outbreak.

It said: “We appreciate that Food Standards Scotland must give priority to protecting the public and we accept that recalling the two initial batches was appropriate under the precautionary principle. However, we believe that once samples of these two batches of Dunsyre Blue tested negative for Ecoli 0157, the incident management team should have looked at other food stuffs and potential sources of transmission.”