Swedish authorities have closed a business that produced cheese and other dairy products without a permit.
The Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) urged people to throw away items labeled “Ellen dairy,” manufactured by Mellanösterns mejeri AB.
Local authorities and stores have been asked to check whether more products by the company are being sold and, if so, to remove them from store shelves.
The Swedish Food Agency recently shut Mellanösterns mejeri in Eskilstuna with help from local officials and discarded the five tons of food that were on the premises.
Any company that sells food to the public must be registered and production needs to be approved. The business is responsible for ensuring that food placed on the market is safe.
“This company was not approved or registered for food production and dairy products were manufactured under unhygienic conditions. We assessed that there may be a risk that consumers will become ill from the food,” said Henrik Björnfot, head of the food control unit in southern Sweden.
Campylobacter latest
Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) said the number of people infected with Campylobacter has continued to increase in recent weeks.
From around 70 cases per week in late June and early July, almost 100 sick people were reported from July 7 to 13 and there were more than 150 cases from July 14 to 20.
Patients are from most regions of the country and the increase is consistent with the normal seasonal pattern, with a peak of infections recorded in July and August. The same pattern is seen in broiler chickens.
Improperly handled or insufficiently cooked chicken meat is a common cause of infection. People are advised to wash hands with soap and water, separate raw chicken meat from other foods and always cook chicken thoroughly. Other sources include direct contact with animals and drinking unpasteurized milk or contaminated water.
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