Nicola Holden, professor of food safety at SRUC, a public land-based research institute specialising in agricultural and life sciences, also commented on the impact of the current weather on salad leaves.
She said: “Wet weather means more moisture on the leaves of field-grown crops. STEC [E. coli] “They do prefer humid conditions, but it's hard to directly say that wet weather will make STEC bacteria associated with plant leaves better or more abundant.”
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said on Saturday it was “confident” that Apollo lettuce caused the outbreak, but that efforts to confirm the root cause were continuing.
The FSA said it expected at least one further food manufacturer to recall products over the weekend and that its investigations were continuing.
As of June 11, the number of cases linked to the E. coli (STEC) outbreak is at 211, an increase of 98 since the last update released by HSE on June 6. On Saturday, HSE confirmed that 67 people are currently in hospital.
Product recalls are “preventative”
While the bacteria has not been found directly in supermarket products, Greencore Group and Samworth Brothers Manton Wood have recalled 45 products as a “precautionary measure” in response to the outbreak. Greencore's recalled products include sandwiches, wraps and salads sold in Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi, Morrisons, Co-op and Boots.
Jim Windship, director of the British Sandwich and Food To Go Association, said: “Investigations are still ongoing but we know that warm, damp weather conditions provide the perfect environment for bacteria to grow.”
Windship added that consumers should be aware that the lettuce can be bought from supermarkets to make salads at home, and is also sold as a takeaway food.
