Consumers urged not to consume raw cow's milk cheese suspectedly contaminated by E coli

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (August 26) urged the public not to consume a kind of raw cow's milk cheese imported from France as it was suspected to be contaminated by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E coli) O26:H11. The trade should also stop selling the product concerned immediately.

Product details are as follows:

Product name: Saint Marcellin IPG
Place of origin: France
Importer: Olivier Pacific Ltd
Lot no: 11733104
Best before date: August 7, 2014

A spokesman for the CFS said, "The Centre received notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission that the kind of raw cow's milk cheese was suspected to be contaminated by Shiga toxin-producing E coli O26:H11 and the manufacturer concerned in France had initiated a recall of the product. A small amount of the affected product was imported to Hong Kong last month."

He said upon notification, the CFS immediately contacted the importer concerned in Hong Kong, and has instructed the company to stop supply of the concerned product.

According to the information of the RASFF, three other kinds of raw cow's milk cheese, namely, Saint Felicien, Sechon de Vache and Tommes du Dauphine have also been suspectedly affected by the above-mentioned pathogen. The best before dates lie between August 4 and September 3, 2014. To date, the information indicates that these products have not entered Hong Kong, the spokesman added.

"The CFS will alert the trade to the incident. Although the concerned product has passed its best before date, the CFS urges the trade to stop selling the affected product immediately for the sake of prudence," the spokesman said.

He advised consumers not to consume the affected batch of the product concerned. They should also stop consuming other batches of the product concerned if they are in doubt. People who have recently bought any of the product concerned abroad or online should also stop consumption. People are advised to seek medical advice if they feel sick after consuming the product concerned.

People will contract E coli causing gastro-intestinal disease through consumption of contaminated water or undercooked and contaminated foods. Intestinal bleeding and serious complications such as hemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) may also develop in some people. Moreover, due to poor personal hygiene, person-to-person transmission of this pathogen is possible through oral-faecal route.

The spokesman said the CFS will continue to closely monitor the situation and take appropriate follow-up actions.


Ends/Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 22:31