3.Cheese
A Somerset dairy producer hit by a fine in May and slammed for running a “shoddy operation”. That was after her cheese was shown to consistently contain harmful bacteria such as listeria, salmonella and E.coli.
Frances Wood, a dairy farmer from West Cranmore, near Shepton Mallet, was also prosecuted under the 2013 Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations for failing to keep the dairy clean and in good repair and condition.
Wood was fined a total of £787 for the two offences and £6,000 in prosecution costs was awarded to Mendip District Council at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on April 20. She had pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.
The district judge also imposed a hygiene prohibition notice, stopping Wood from managing any cheese production or processing business in the future.
The court heard that through her company, Alham Wood Cheeses, Wood had been making cheese – mostly buffalo mozzarella and other white cheeses – at her premises before selling them on to pizza restaurants outside of Mendip and at London farmers’ markets.