12 Nov 2014

Gastro bug farm clear - Foodstuffs

1:52 pm on 12 November 2014

Tests on a quarantined farm for the for the virus believed to have caused a recent gastro outbreak have come back negative, Supermarket chain Foodstuffs says.

A farm which supplied Foodstuffs was quarantined after 170 people contracted the bug in September and October from what was thought to be bagged lettuce and carrots. Seventy-two of those who became ill needed hospital treatment.

Foodstuffs spokesperson Antoinette Shallue said all the soil samples from the quarantined farm had come back negative for the virus, yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

It was not detected in samples taken from the processing water, the processing plant or in the final products.

"The fact that every single test was negative for yersinia pseudotuberculosis really does give our customers confidence that they can trust in the safety of the products they buy from our stores," Ms Shallue said.

The internal audit showed a high level of food safety compliance, she said.

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