August 14, 2007

experts respond to E.coli Outbreak

The outbreak occurred at Paisley, near Glasgow, and was linked to cold meat bought from a local supermarket.

Prof J Ralph Blanchfield MBE, Food science, food technology and food law consultant, said:

“Proper cooking kills E.coli. E.coli O157 infection of sliced cold cooked meat can occur either by significant undercooking or, more likely, by cross-contamination, usually transferred from raw meat by utensils or by operators’ hands.

“If the results of the investigation bear out the initial suggestion that the vehicle was sliced cold cooked meat from the delicatessen counters of two Morrisons’ stores in Paisley, this means that the meat was undercooked or coincidentally cross-contaminated at two separate stores simultaneously. This suggests to me that the problem may have originated at the supplier of the cold cooked meat rather than in-store.”