Dawn Farm Foods to carry out 'cleandown' at Co Kildare plant

Dawn Farm Foods, the company at the centre of an investigation into a food poisoning outbreak, has confirmed that it is temporarily close its plant in Co Kildare to carry out what it described as "a pharmaceutical-grade cleandown".

It emerged last week that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was investigating Dawn Farm Foods as part of an inquiry into a salmonella outbreak in Ireland and in the UK.

FSAI officials said this week that potentially contaminated beef may have been supplied to sandwich outlet Subway, which has stores throughout Ireland and the UK.

Subway subsequently withdrew any potentially contaminated products.

A statement released this evening by Dawn Farm Foods said it was taking a number of steps "to protect consumer health and maintain customer confidence."

The company has retained the services of a specialist bio-activation technology company to carry out the cleaning process at the Kildare plant.

According to the company, the technology used includes a certified validation process to ensure that the factory is clear of any potential environmental contaminants.

In addition to the pharmaceutical-grade cleandown, Dawn said it has also retained the services of another international company "to recalibrate all thermal processing equipment."

The company emphasised that the link with Dawn Farm Foods focussed on one production line which it closed on notification from the authorities of a possible link.

Shipping of all associated products was halted and the company confirmed this evening that the production line has been "fully decommissioned" and that it would not reopen until the final results of the investigation are made known.

Dawn Farm Foods added that it "continues to cooperate fully with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Food Safety Authority of Ireland in their ongoing investigation. "

Salmonella is a food borne disease and symptoms can include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever.