Highlight - Food Safety Alert: Presence of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O26 in goat cheese

On July 1, 2014, Laiterie H.TRIBALLAT and the French Directorate General for Food (DGAl) announced the withdrawal and recall of a batch of Chavignol goat cheese produced in the Cher department due to positive test results indicating the presence of Escherichia coli STEC O26:H11 (Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli, STEC). The withdrawal and recall were then expanded on July 11, 2014, to include 11 additional batches manufactured with the same raw material as the initially positive batch, with information provided to consumers. The affected batches were distributed throughout all departments in metropolitan France and also abroad, particularly in the European market; the DGAl issued a notification at the European level via the RASSF platform. As of July 15, 2014, and since July 12, 2014, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) has received 3 reports of episodes of diarrhea in 5 people (3 adults and 2 children) who reported having consumed the cheese in question. The affected families reside in Vendée, Corsica, and Hauts-de-Seine. Investigations are currently underway by the InVS units in the affected regions. As of July 15, 2014, no cases of bloody diarrhea or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) have been reported in connection with these reports. Furthermore, no unusual increase in HUS cases has been observed by the InVS.