EU acts against Britain over dairy's food safety breaches

The European Commission announced Thursday that it had launched proceedings against Britain for failing to act on food safety violations by the Bowland Dairy in northern England.

The Commission said Britain "did not fulfill its obligation to effectively enforce EU rules and mitigate risks to consumer safety, despite being fully aware of the serious problems ... found in this dairy."

It expressed concern "about the acceptance shown by the UK authorities towards the placing on the market of milk which tested positive for antibiotics and which was not shown to be within the required EU maximum residue levels".

Last week, a consumer safety spokesman said that the dairy was found to be using out-of-date milk collected from shops and "mouldy and contaminated cheese, including floor waste" in its curd cheese.

Traces of dye and detergent were also found in the unripened cheese.

The EU's executive body gave Britain five days to respond to its allegations and said that if the answer was not satisfactory it could lead to action at the bloc's top tribunal, the European Court of Justice.

"The decision to start the infringement proceedings is accompanied by a safeguard measure banning curd cheese from the non-compliant dairy from being placed on the market, due to the likely health hazards this cheese could pose," it said in a statment.

Bowland has refuted the Commission's allegations and said it would challenge the ruling in European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

The EU's Food and Veterinary Office is due to inspect the entire British dairy sector in November.