Isle of Mull Cheese has voluntarily recalled its raw milk Hebridean Blue after tests found a batch contained shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).
The company told FFD that tests of one 107kg-batch from December had found the DNA of bacteria potentially connected to STEC 02H27. However, this result was from highly sensitive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing, which can detect fragments of DNA from bacteria that might not still be active.
Isle of Mull said the cheese would have passed “normal testing” as pathogens were not found using agar plates. It also said that the cheese’s enterobacteriaceae count, of which E.coli is a subgroup, would normally be considered “perfect”. No cases of illness have been linked to the cheese.
“We take the safety of customers very seriously,” said the company in a statement. “Most varieties of cheese in the world are produced are from raw milk. It has been used to preserve food for thousands of years. Producing raw milk cheese is tough.”
Isle of Mull has withdrawn all Hebridean Blue cheese for further testing, while its well-known raw milk Cheddar is not affected.
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson told FFD: “The Council has worked with the business and Food Standards Scotland on instigating a product recall of batch 8051224 and further precautionary product withdrawals, to protect consumers. Food Standards Scotland has liaised with the NHS and standard processes of vigilance are being maintained. As far as is known there are no cases of illness associated with this incident.”
The incident follows other recent recalls for cheeses that have tested positive for E.coli, including Kirkham’s Lancashire and Monts & Terroirs’ Morbier in 2023.
This article first appeared in the May 2025 issue of Fine Food Digest.
