Errington Cheese has dropped its petition against a ban of all its products by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) following a fatal E.coli outbreak.
The company’s cheese products were withdrawn in mid September following investigations into the E.coli O157 outbreak by Health Protection Scotland, South Lanarkshire Council and FSS.
Errington Cheese took the legal route to challenge the ban arguing that it was unlawful and that FSS did not share evidence with it.
However, the cheesemaker said that it has dropped the petition after reaching an agreement with FSS on legal costs.
FSS has refuted the claims from Errington Cheese and said that it agreed to pay only the reasonable judicial expenses incurred and not in full, in relation to the judicial review.
Errington Cheese said that it continues to believe that its cheese is safe and fit for human consumption and denied any link between its products and the recent Ecoli.O157 outbreak.
The company in a statement said: “We do so in reliance on expert advice which we have obtained from the most respected of scientists. Indeed FSS have not provided us with any evidence to substantiate their allegations about there being a link between Dunsyre Blue and the outbreak of illness.”
The Scottish food watchdog said that the full product recall was imposed based on the evidence available with it along with the South Lanarkshire Council.
FSS said that samples from different batches of a range of various cheeses made by Errington Cheese over a four-month period tested positive for E.coli strains.
An FSS statement in this regard read: “These samples were tested by fully accredited testing laboratories, and the results verified by expert scientists at reference laboratories in Scotland and England. The detection of these organisms in ready to eat food potentially presents a serious risk to human health.”
The watchdog further added that the South Lanarkshire Council considers serious deficiencies in the food safety controls at Errington Cheese’s premises.
