The owner of a Scottish cheese company whose products were linked by Health Protection Scotland and Food Standards Scotland to a recent outbreak of E.coli food poisoning has protested that the accusation threatens not just his own business, but all artisan cheese makers using unpasteurised milk.
Errington Cheese, owned by Humphrey Errington, produced the Dunsyre Blue cheese consumed by several of the 16 patients in the most recent E.coli outbreak. Errington Cheese recalled its products after a possible link was identified.
However, Mr Errington now says that the company's investigations have cleared his products. He told the online news site Foodmanufacture that the HPS / FSS position 'was based on a malicious prejudice against raw milk cheese', which threatened the reputation of Britain's artisan cheese industry, 'one of the greatest success stories of recent years'.
Nevertheless, HPS stands by its conclusions. It said that based on detailed information, Dunsyre Blue remained the most likely source of the outbreak.
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