June 8, 2011

 

British dairy sales unscathed by MRSA reports

 

 

Although there are reports regarding the discovery of a new strain of MRSA superbug in British cow's milk, dairy sales have not been affected, according to supermarkets.

 

Experts in the Westcountry said this is because consumers know they have nothing to fear because pasteurisation eradicates the bacteria.

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Tesco, Asda and Morrisons all confirmed that there had been no reflection of the recent scare in milk sales figures.

 

Simon Bates, communications director of Dairy UK, which represents producers and processors, said, "Consumers have clearly got the message that this is not a food safety issue.

 

"All milk sold in UK shops, supermarkets and catering outlets is pasteurised and this bug is completely destroyed by pasteurisation."

 

A spokesman for Asda said, "We have definitely not seen any decline in sales at all. Milk is one of our biggest selling lines and has not been affected."

 

Concerns were initially raised last Friday (Jun 3) after scientists revealed they had discovered a new drug-resistant strain of MRSA, which was impossible to identify using standard molecular tests.

 

The same mutated gene was identified in 13 of 940 samples from 450 dairy herds in England, with further research confirming that the strain was in the human population.

 

The discovery fuelled controversy over intensive farming methods and the way antibiotics are used to protect livestock.

The Soil Association called for a complete ban on the routine use of the drugs, which is said to promote the development of drug-resistant bacteria. It urged an end to the continuing economic pressure on farmers to cut costs.

 

But farming leaders in the region immediately hit back and moved to quell fears, with the National Farmers' Union (NFU) saying it was perfectly safe to consume milk, cheese and other dairy products.

 

Ian Johnson, South West spokesman for the NFU, said, "I do not think this can really be regarded as a 'scare' as such, it was always qualified and acknowledged that if there was a risk, it was only to those directly in contact with the animals.

 

"British consumers have thankfully always been fairly pragmatic and somewhat sceptical of horror stories."

 

NFU members in the Westcountry did call for more information and data about the new MRSA research, which was carried out by Dr Mark Holmes from Cambridge University, and published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases last week.

 

Holmes said dairy farmers were forced to use the antibiotics by tremendous financial pressure from price-cutting supermarkets.

 

MRSA is a drug-resistant form of a usually harmless common bacterium which can be deadly if it infects wounds.

 

It was linked to nearly 1,600 deaths four years ago, but since then suspected cases have fallen dramatically.