Processors face rising threats of pathogen contamination in products using foods vulnerable to the current bad weather.
An E.coli O157 outbreak has hit sandwich and snack salads supplier Buckingham Foods and md Nigel Hunter admitted several people who ate its chicken wraps had become ill. He said the firm had picked up nothing in its 900 lab tests, but noted that fresh produce had more soil on it than usual because of the bad weather. Buckingham is revising its fresh produce washing procedures and increasing the chlorine intensity.
Christine Dodd, professor of food microbiology at Nottingham University, said if fresh produce is grown in an area that may experience run-off from farmland, there is an increased risk of E.coli in bad weather.
Debora Hagel, technical services manager at Bodycote food testing labs in Norpath, added: "Manufacturers should be OK if they wash their goods properly." And the Food and Drink Federation agreed that there shouldn't be a problem, provided manufacturers adhered to effective food safety controls.
Meanwhile, the UK's wheat harvest is hanging in the balance, with the first two weeks of August critical as continuing downpours heighten the risk of contamination from mycotoxins.
On July 23 the Food Standards Agency published sampling advice for enforcement authorities and food businesses about legislation on mycotoxins in food.
"The only real danger will be in a wet harvest year when we get to the combines going into the fields," said Guy Bowman, md of Bowmans.
Alexander Waugh, director general of UK flour millers body Nabim, added: "A lot depends on the next two weeks ... everybody is simply praying for dry weather."