Express & Star

Staffordshire food supplier at centre of listeria outbreak allowed to restart production

A Staffordshire food supplier at the centre of the listeria outbreak has been cleared to restart production by the Food Standards Agency.

Published
Last updated
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, was among those supplied with affected product lines

However the Good Food Chain, based in Stone, has said production remains suspended despite the company no longer being part of the FSA's investigation.

The Good Food Chain had halted production after being linked to potentially supplying affected pre-packed sandwiches and salads to 43 NHS sites as well as an independent provider.

These include University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Stafford Hospital, along with The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

The NHS has identified nine confirmed cases of listeria at seven different hospitals around the country, while five people are suspected to have died after eating products linked to the Good Food Chain.

Now the FSA investigation is looking at suppliers further up the food supply chain.

The same strain of listeria was identified in meat produced by North Country Cooked Meats used by the Good Food Chain.

North Country Cooked Meats, and their distributor North Country Quality Foods, voluntarily stopped distributing on June 3 and all ready to eat products have been withdrawn as a precaution.

The products supplied by North Country Quality Foods to other businesses have not led to any reported cases to date.

Both North Country Cooked Meats and North Country Quality Foods remain closed.

Best practice

A spokesman for the Good Food Chain said: "We welcome the Food Standards Agency’s announcement that the Good Food Chain is no longer part of the ongoing investigation into the recent listeria outbreak

"The FSA has confirmed that we are not the source of the listeria strain in question, and that we follow 'best practice for manufacturing, cleaning, and environmental standards'.

"While this means we can now resume production, we have not yet taken any decision about whether it is viable to do so. Production therefore remains suspended for the time being.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies remain with the families of those who have died following this terrible episode."

Councillor Jonathan Price, Stafford Borough Council's cabinet member for the environment, said: “We have worked tirelessly with the Good Food Chain and are reassured that their manufacturing processes, cleaning procedures and environmental standards meet those we expect for producing ready to eat foods.

“But our work does not stop there as the health of the public is our top priority.

“So we will continue collecting environmental swabs from surfaces at the business, taking samples of food, and working with the Good Food Chain to ensure they have control measures in place to thoroughly assess those supplying products to them.”

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.