UK dairy to be closed by Brussels

Lancashire-based Bowland Dairy Products is being banned from selling its curd cheese throughout the EU, following a Brussels decision that is has been in breech of food safety rules.

An inspection by the EU Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office in June found the establishment to be non-compliant with a whole series of EU food safety laws

“There was evidence that raw milk containing antibiotic residues, or contaminated with substances such as detergents and dyes, was being used to make curd cheese, as was out-of-date milk collected from retail establishments,” said a spokesman.

“Bowland was also using mouldy and contaminated cheese, including floor waste to vacuum-pack for sale.”

The commission says it alerted the UK authorities repeatedly and demanded that they “immediately address the problems and prevent products unfit for human consumption from reaching consumers”.

But a follow-up visit in late September found “persistent non-compliance”, leading to the decision to ban the company’s product and order a recall of any curd cheese already on the market.

But the UK Food Standards Agency says the move in premature and insists that it took a number of corrective measures at Bowland since the first FVO inspection.

It suggests the continued perceived failings boil down to a difference of opinion between the UK and EU authorities over the science behind testing for antibiotics that have yet to be resolved.

Dairy UK also defended Bowland as having fully complied with UK hygiene regulations.

“This is an attack on the competence of the Food Standards Agency and Dairy UK fully supports the FSA,” said technical director Ed Komorowski.

The EU Commission has warned that an FVO inspection of the entire UK dairy sector is scheduled for November. “If evidence is found of similar practices elsewhere in the UK, the Commission will take further action.”