AN artisan cheesemaker whose produce is at the centre of a girl's E.coli death probe has launched a new batch of blue cheese.
Food safety officers at South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) and Food Safety Scotland (FSS) gave Errington Cheese the go-ahead to put new batches of Lanark Blue cheese - which started to mature in January - just days after SLC removed the last batch of suspect produce from the Carnwath-based firm.
Read more: Scots shell company laundered £160 million out of Russia
Three cheeses from last season - Dunsyre Blue, Lanark Blue and Corra Linn - have been condemned by food safety officers amid allegations they caused the deadly illness.
A court hearing that could last up to three weeks is to be held into the concerns over the cheese after the outbreak last year that resulted in the Dunbartonshire three-year-old's death and the illness of 17 others, allegedly caused by cheese.
Humphrey Errington, founder of Errington Cheese, said putting Lanark Blue back on the market is a significant step for his family firm, but Corra Linn will take longer and they have yet to begin a new batch of Dunsyre Blue.
Read more: Scots shell company laundered £160 million out of Russia
He said: "It’s exactly the same recipe. It’s just a new season’s cheese.
"What they did insist on, is that we tested the milk five times every day for pathogens.
"There is absolutely no significant change in the process at all. It is still raw milk.
"We are putting it on the market with the full approval of South Lanarkshire Council."
He continued: "The reason we can sell the Lanark Blue and not the Corra Linn is just that the Lanark Blue matures more quickly.
"The Corra Linn won't be ready for at least six months.
Read more: Scots shell company laundered £160 million out of Russia
"What we have got to concentrate on is the hearing that will start in April.
"That’s when they (SLC) have to start showing the sheriff why they think it is unfit to eat and then we are able to challenge that evidence and show the sheriff why we believe that it is fit to eat.
"That’s going to be two, maybe three weeks in court."
South Lanarkshire Council said it would continue to monitor the firm.
Shirley Clelland, head of fleet and environmental services at the council, said: “South Lanarkshire Council has now seized all existing batches of the Errington Cheese Limited cheeses which were the subject of a Food Alert For Action issued by Food Standards Scotland following an E.Coli outbreak last year.
Read more: Scots shell company laundered £160 million out of Russia
“The latest seizure took place on March 17 and involved batches of Dunsyre Blue and followed earlier seizures of batches of Lanark Blue and Corra Linn.
"All are now the subject of seizure under Section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 and they will be presented to a sheriff to ask for them to be condemned.
“It is the responsibility of Errington Cheese Ltd to ensure that any new batches of cheese which are produced under their improved food safety management system are safe and have been produced in accordance with food safety legislation.
Read more: Scots shell company laundered £160 million out of Russia
"SLC will be continuing to monitor the production of this season’s cheese.”
A spokeswoman for Food Standards Scotland said: "South Lanarkshire Council has provided assurances to Food Standards Scotland that Errington Cheese Ltd now has revised food safety management systems in place to produce and sell cheese.
"The new season Lanark Blue cheese being placed on the market this week has been produced under this revised food safety management system.
"Food Standards Scotland cannot comment further due to ongoing legal proceedings."
Donald Reid, Queen Margaret University gastronomy lecturer, said: "The fact that Errington Cheese is making their Lanark Blue again is uplifting news."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here