Lactalis McLelland has declared no listeria was present in batches of Galloway cheese recalled this week.
The supplier announced a precautionary recall of 11,424 200g packs of its Galloway Medium Coloured Grated Cheddar on 19 June – with a best before date of 26 August – due to the risk of contamination by listeria monocytogenes.
Lab tests had revealed the presence of listeria at a level of less than 10cfu/g, which is the lowest recordable level, Lactalis said. The limit for chilled ready-to-eat food to be considered safe is less than 100cfu/g.
However, after further testing was completed, Lactalis confirmed there was no listeria present in the cheese, which had been mainly distributed in Scotland.
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“The initial testing indicated the potential presence of a very low level of listeria monocytogenes. And as consumer safety is our number one priority, we took the decision to implement a precautionary recall of the affected batch while further testing was conducted,” said Lactalis McLelland group MD Hugues Meaudre.
However, final results showed the first results were in simple terms a ‘false positive’, he added.
The news comes amid a major listeria outbreak across the UK, with the death toll from a contamination of sandwiches sold in hospitals rising to five this week. Meanwhile, Müller was forced to recall batches of Cadbury’s desserts it manufactures in Shropshire earlier this month due to concerns over the possible presence of the bug.
“We apologise to our customers and consumers for any concern caused by our decision to recall this product, but we will always err on the side of caution where food safety is concerned,” Meaudre said.
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