Emergency death-cheese national panic

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From this morning's Guardian:

FSA recalls four types of cheese after possible E coli contamination

Food Standards Agency announces recall on Christmas Eve, saying products should not come in contact with other foods

Four types of cheese have been “precautionarily” recalled due to a possible E coli contamination before Christmas Day.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced the recall for Mrs Kirkham’s Mild and Creamy Lancashire, Mrs Kirkham’s Tasty Lancashire, Mrs Kirkham’s Mature Lancashire and Mrs Kirkham’s Smoked Lancashire on Christmas Eve.

The FSA said: “The products listed above might be contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... tamination

Don't mind me, I'm just piling in. Really, if anyone ever wanted to destroy a brand overnight, pulling that on Christmas morning is definitely the way to go.

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Don't mind me, I'm just piling in. Really, if anyone ever wanted to destroy a brand overnight, pulling that on Christmas morning is definitely the way to go.

And indeed, as rogue-like overkill the Food Standards Agency announcement was hard to beat. Here's the firm's response to the bombshell, from Christmas afternoon:

“We were only made aware of this yesterday teatime, and as yet there has not been any testing carried out on our product by the Food Standards Agency to confirm this. We are working with our EHO (environmental health officer) and the FSA to get to the bottom of this matter.

“Mrs Kirkham’s site, is SALSA plus Cheese-accredited (SPDF-SCA), and part of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association, and have followed the best code of practice within our business. This particular strain of E.coli that is involved in the potential outbreak is something which is new to us all.

“All the testing we carry out, and all other cheesemakers, on their products from milk through to finished product; this new strain would not have apparently been detected.”

The statement continues that further testing cannot be carried out until Wednesday (December 27) due to the Christmas period, leaving the business ‘in limbo’. It also states that other brands other than Mrs Kirkham’s have been affected.

https://www.blogpreston.co.uk/2023/12/m ... ct-recall/

One can only wish them well and hope they bounce back immediately.

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There's a company statement on their website which is bound to disappear within days. Does anyone mind if I capture it entire, for the record, at the end of this post?

I would guess the key is the observation on the page beyond the product recall - "Now the last raw milk Lancashire cheesemakers in the world."

As for the recall, "Whilst at this time, there has been no testing carried out on our products by the FSA to confirm any suspected risks, we feel it is our duty to recall our products [...] This recall relates to new testing techniques designed to better identify potentially dangerous strains of Shiga Toxin producing E.coli. Unfortunately, these new testing techniques are not currently industry standard. As a result, despite rigorous and thorough testing throughout our production processes, the potential risk to product safety was not previously identified."

The FSA said: “The products listed above might be contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC)" despite there never having been a test for such contamination ever performed on these cheeses, much less a positive result? The product recall was demanded because the FSA had demanded an additional test and that was the entire extent of the risk - no contamination had ever been demonstrated? And the entire farm enterprise is put in jeopardy in consequence?

I'd call it a disgraceful over-reaction by power-crazed civil service management, if this is what actually happened. If there's been no test performed at all, positive or negative, for this previously unconsidered STEC, and the absence triggered a product recall two days before Christmas, the minister in charge should apologize and step down, that's what they're paid for - to take the can after a mistake this embarrassing. I demand The Rt Hon Mark Spencer's head on a platter.

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It's extraordinary - the FSA just doubled down on this recall, but they still appear to have no positive tests relating to the products. They'd better be right.

The FSA's head of incidents Tina Potter said consumers must "check whether they have bought or been gifted this product".

"Due to this outbreak... we are urging all consumers to ensure they follow the advice in the product recall notices, which details all of the products which may pose a risk," she said.

Amy Douglas, UKHSA's incident director, said there had been "at least 30 confirmed cases of this specific outbreak strain of STEC in the UK".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-l ... e-67835428

[LarsMac]

E-Coli in Cheese?
That seems a tad unusual.

Well, of course in the US, Cheese has long been required to go through pasteurization and partly due to that , such outbreaks are rare.

I did read, recently that there has been a push to reduce those requirements so we can enjoy some of the more exotic Cheeses of the world.

I found this: Pathogens in Cheese and Foodborne Illnesses

So, maybe, we can wait awhile on that.

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I'd imagine it's entirely legal to make cheese in the US with raw unpasteurised milk so long is it's not offered for sale. Here it's definitely legal but the hoops must be amazingly tough because very few firms jump through them. Farmers no doubt keep the skills from one generation to the next but not on a commercial basis.

[LarsMac]

I'd imagine it's entirely legal to make cheese in the US with raw unpasteurised milk so long is it's not offered for sale. Here it's definitely legal but the hoops must be amazingly tough because very few firms jump through them. Farmers no doubt keep the skills from one generation to the next but not on a commercial basis.

Well, here in the States, If you are a commercial producer of cheese, you are not permitted to even have unpasteurized ingredients in your production facility.
Your intentions are somewhat irrelevant to the inspector.