South Ayrshire Council has acknowledged that a lab mix-up led to it incorrectly stating that two Ayr-based butchers stocked meat products contaminated with E.coli 0157.
Date:
Mon, 22 Aug 2011
Source:
SFMTA/South Ayrshire Council
Douglas Scott, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders, acknowledged the council's statement but highlighted the completely unnecessary upset this had caused both businesses, which take great pride in the quality and safety of the food they sell.
"These businesses have been trading for well over 160 years between them and have a well-deserved unblemished history of great service and products as well as excellent standards of health and hygiene.
"It is, therefore, extremely unfortunate they should be the completely innocent victims of this lab botch-up."
Both butchers thanked their customers for their support and continued custom during the mix-up.
A Picken & Sons is a long-established butcher's business which has been serving the Ayr community since 1870 and employs 17 local people, taking great pride in producing safe and wholesome food.
Gordon Picken said: "We recognise the profound apologies of the local authority for the mix-up in the lab which led to the inaccurate results and we have been delighted that our customers have retained confidence in us."
J Martin in Whittlets has been owned by Grahame Arnott since 1986. Grahame added: "I would like to reassure our customers that South Ayrshire Council have closely examined all our procedures and confirmed that we comply with all relevant food safety requirements."
The South Ayrshire Council press release states:
Further testing by the Scottish E.coli O157 Reference Laboratory of potted meat samples taken from two Ayr butchers has confirmed no E.coli O157 contamination of the two products.
Tests of the potted meat – taken from J Martin, 36 Main Road and A Pickens and Sons, 27-29 Alloway Street as part of a routine food survey – had initially indicated the presence of E.coli O157.
However, members of the public can now be reassured that the latest results show this was not the case, there is no risk to public health and products from the two premises can continue to be enjoyed by customers."
Lesley Bloomer, South Ayrshire Council's executive director for development and environment, said: "Our sincere thanks to both J Martin and A Pickens and Sons for their co-operation and quick action while the investigation into the 'failed' samples was under way.
"Our priority at all times was to minimise any potential risk to public health and while we are content that the food safety procedures within both businesses are satisfactory and they remained open for business, we did appreciate how swiftly they acted to take the product off the shelf and notify customers.
"All action taken – which was taken following consultation with the Food Standards Agency and NHS Ayrshire & Arran Public Health – was done in the best interests of the public."
The initial tests from the Glasgow Scientific Services (GSS) laboratory had produced a positive result for E.coli O157; however, this subsequently proved to be a 'false positive' result.
The GSS laboratory has since confirmed this was due to laboratory cross-contamination – the first such incident in many years.
A review meeting will now be held to examine the circumstances surrounding this incident and to establish what lessons can be learned.
Ms Bloomer continued: "Although testing anomalies like this are very rare indeed, we hope to see the laboratory take appropriate measures to protect against this happening again.
"In the meantime, we can reassure the public and customers that we have assessed that both J Martin and A Pickens and Sons continue to comply with all relevant food safety requirements."
Scottish Federation of Meat Traders.
South Ayrshire Council.
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