Raw dairy products have come under fresh scrutiny this week following a listeria-linked recall of products made by Scottish cheesemaker Loch Arthur Creamery.
Food Standards Scotland issued a recall of all batches of the Dumfries-based supplier’s Crannog and Killywhan cheeses on 14 December, after finding traces of listeria monocytogenes. Both cheeses are made using unpasteurised milk.
The FSS recall comes less than six months after a major e.coli outbreak claimed the life of a child and was linked by Scottish authorities to Lanarkshire-based Errington Cheese, which also uses raw milk in its production process.
Listeria infections can cause symptoms similar to flu, including a high temperature, muscle aches and pains, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea. In rare cases, the infection can also cause meningitis.
FSS said consumers should not eat the Loch Arthur products that had been found to contain listeria, and should return them to the store where they were bought for a refund. Loch Arthur has informed all businesses that sell the products to withdraw them from sale.
“Routine testing carried out recently as part of our food safety system indicated the presence of a low level of listeria in a small number of batches of our Crannog cheese,” said Loch Arthur spokesman Dave Mitchell. “We immediately reported this to the Environmental Health Department at Dumfries and Galloway Council,” he added, and confirmed the supplier had halted production of the affected cheese variants.
“We are continuing to produce our Farmhouse Cheese, cream cheese and yoghurt as these products are not affected. The Loch Arthur farm shop and café are open for business as usual.”
Errington vows to fight on
It comes as Errington Cheese has vowed to keep fighting against the FSS ban on the sale of its cheese, which has forced the supplier to lay off its staff and shut down operations.
Founder Humphrey Errington told The Grocer he was “determined” to find a judicial way forward to challenge FSS’s actions. Errington met with Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney last week to appeal to him to look into the case, following a leaked report by Professor Hugh Pennington that claimed Errington cheese did not contain traces of harmful e.coli bacteria.
“So far I have seen no microbiological evidence that links Errington Cheese to the e.coli O157:H7 outbreak,” said the former professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University in the report.
Pennington said FSS had “over interpreted” the test results, and “by putting two and two together, they’re making 10.”
He warned of the impact the Errington case might have on other unpasteurised cheeses such as Roquefort, which is made by the same process as Errington cheese, according to Pennington.
“This decision is not just for the Errington company, it may well have an effect on other cheeses,” he said. “For the future, are they going to move on banning the sale of cheeses from unpasteurised milk, and put the other producers of unpasteurised milk cheeses in Scotland out of business?”
No comments yet