Editors Note: This article first appeared in the Daily Mail and is republished here with the permission of Hugh Pennington.
Almost two weeks have passed since news emerged of a Listeria outbreak linked to ready-made sandwiches provided to patients in hospitals.
Yet until yesterday (June 18) we
Continue Reading Shameful sound of silence endangering public health
An E. coli O157:H7 outbreak and an associated recall have both expanded in Scotland. As a result, Errington Cheese Ltd. must destroy cheese worth at least $334,000, while a top E. coli expert questions whether health officials are “over-interpreting scientific evidence.” 
The addition of two more confirmed cases brings the
Continue Reading Scotland bans sales by Errington Cheese amid deadly outbreak
(This article was initially published May 6, 2014, by The Conversation. Dr. Pennington is Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen.)
On May 7, 1964, a catering-size can of corned beef from Rosario, Argentina, was opened in a supermarket in central Aberdeen. Half the contents were put
Continue Reading Our Ability to Cope With Foodborne Outbreaks Hasn’t Improved Much
The report from the so-called “supershedders” conference on the future of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) research — held recently in Scotland — is out. It identifies key knowledge gaps and recommends areas for future research. The workshop stemmed from the controversial 2005 E. coli outbreak in South Wales and was
Continue Reading E. coli Conference: Research Should Focus on the Source
