Person confirmed to have died in E.coli outbreak as family cheesemaker supplying Yorkshire shops issues statement

A person has died following an outbreak of E.Coli in the UK, The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed.

The health officials stated there have been 30 confirmed cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, (Stec) have been recorded across England and Scotland in patients aged seven to 81.

The agency added a person from Scotland had now died following infection.

Many Yorkshire companies stock the cheeses, with two Leeds suppliers confirming the products had been part of their Christmas hampers and charcuterie platters.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced a precautionary recall of four products from cheesemaker Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese on Christmas Eve because of possible E. coli contamination.

However, the source of the issue has not yet been traced.

Mrs Kirkham’s released a statement calling the decision to recall all products purchased between October 1, 2023 and December 24, 2023, as “difficult”.

“This is a precautionary measure, based on information we only received around teatime yesterday,” a spokesperson explained.

“Whilst at this time, there has been no testing carried out on our products by the FSA to confirm any suspected risks, we feel it is our duty to recall our products.

“We are working very closely with our local Environmental Health Officers and the Food Standards Agency to fully understand the situation, and whether our products have been correctly implicated.

“Our modern and purpose-built facility here at Mrs Kirkham's, is accredited to the Safe And Local Supplier Approval + cheese (SALSA) standard, and as a member of The Specialist Cheesemakers Association we are careful to always adhere to their code of best practice within our business.

“This recall relates to new testing techniques designed to better identify potentially dangerous strains of Shiga Toxin producing E.coli. Unfortunately, these new testing techniques are not currently industry standard. As a result, despite rigorous and thorough testing throughout our production processes, the potential risk to product safety was not previously identified.

“We are now unfortunately in a state of limbo until testing laboratories reopen and resume testing. As soon as they do, together with the FSA we will investigate further.”

The UKHSA said investigations were continuing into any common links between cases, including links to the recalled cheeses.