Cheesemaker suffering side effects of E coli

THE future of a North Clare cheese-making business is unclear after its products were removed from shelves after one batch tested positive for E coli 0157.

 

E coli 0157 is a harmless germ in cattle but can cause a serious disease in humans. Kilshanny Farmhouse Cheeses were withdrawn from sale last week after a person got sick after eating one of their products.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland reported that E coli O157 was found in a batch of Kilshanny Farmhouse Cheese Gouda herb cheese.

“This product has been sold in a food stall in the Limerick Milk Market and in a retailer in County Clare. The company has been ordered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to withhold placing any further batches on the market.”

The FSAI also advised consumers “not to eat the implicated cheese due to the presence of E coli O157”.

The FSAI announced on Wednesday that E coli 0157 was found in Gouda Herb Cheese produced by Kilshanny Farmhouse Cheese. On Friday, it added that Kilshanny Farmhouse Cheese is withdrawing all Kilshanny Cheese from the market, while other cheeses from the manufacturer are being tested for the possible presence of E coli O157.

The affected batch was produced on September 19 last. “E coli O157 may cause severe bloody diarrhoea and abdominal cramps, although sometimes the infection causes non-bloody diarrhoea or no symptoms. In some groups, particularly children under five years of age and the elderly, the infection can also cause a complication called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail,” the FSAI noted.
Kilshanny Farmhouse Cheese was established in 1983 with the Nibbering family taking over the business in 1989.

Aron Nibbering spoke to The Clare Champion about the contamination. “This is the first time ever that our cheese has been recalled. So far, the FSAI have tested that batch of September 19 and the tests are positive but they are testing further batches and we haven’t had any results yet. We are expecting them in the next day or so but as a precaution, we had to withdraw all our products,” he said.

Aron explained that the business is run by his father and events of the last week have brought the future of the company into question.

“We only supply to a small number of shops. We are a small operation. We are very regulated by the Department of Agriculture. They are out at the premises every month to test the water samples, cheese samples and curd samples. The farmer next door where we get the milk from is tested all the time too. We are strictly regulated, even more so because we are using raw milk,” he explained.

“This company is run by me and my dad and there are two families trying to make a living out of it. We apologise to our customers that this has happened and are very sorry for all the troubles. We operate above board and are regulated by the Department of Agriculture but sometimes this sort of thing can happen. The amount of cheese withdrawn is a small amount; it is only about 100kg. We are not currently in production because we only make cheese when the cows are in the field so we were hoping to fire up again last week but we cannot but hope to be back on the road in the next two weeks, everything going well. My dad is retiring later this year or early next year and I am the one looking at taking it over. Now we have to decide to go ahead with it given all the regulation with raw-milk cheese,” Aron concluded.