As the latest E. coli O157 outbreak ravages Scotland, including one death and seven ill linked to cold cuts, Professor Hugh Pennington today said there was no excuse for allowing contaminated cold meat to be sold, after lessons were learned from a major outbreak in Lanarkshire 10 years ago.

"We had hoped we’d seen the last of outbreaks associated with butchers. I think there really is no excuse for it. We know how to prevent it. … There is no excuse for putting your customers at risk. Undoubtedly this outbreak will be down to human error – either someone doing something they shouldn’t or not doing something they should."

Meanwhile, an editorial in The Herald has questioned why there appears to have been a delay of several days before information regarding the outbreak was made public, echoing my comments about Canadian officials,

"There is always a danger that premature announcements provoke unnecessary panic. However, public protection must outweigh the danger of spreading unwarranted alarm. Vulnerable people and their carers have a right to expect the enforcement of basic hygiene in the handling of food and a right to know promptly when things go wrong."