The meat supplier at the centre of the killer hospital sandwiches scandal has previously been probed twice over listeria , the Sunday Mirror can reveal.
Health officials found the potentially deadly bacteria at the North Country Cooked Meats HQ in 2009 and 2010.
Public Health England revealed on Friday two more patients have been killed by the listeria outbreak linked to pre-packed sandwiches, despite saying last week the incident was “contained”.
It takes the death toll to five.
North Country Cooked Meats, based in Salford, Greater Manchester, is believed to be the source, after testing positive for the outbreak strain. It has since stopped production.
It supplies the Good Food Chain, a Staffordshire company that makes
pre-packed sandwiches and salads.
The victims all ate pre-packed chicken salad sandwiches from the Good Food Chain, which was supplying 43 hospital trusts.
All the products have been withdrawn from NHS menus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered “a root and branch review” of hospital food. The Royal College of Nursing said this scrutiny is long overdue.
The first three people who died were patients of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool.
Public Health England has not revealed where the two latest victims were from. Salford city council said yesterday: “We have monitored North Country Cooked Meats in line with [official guidelines] for many years.
“We detected listeria in 2009 and 2010 and the company acted promptly to deal with it satisfactorily.”
It added the firm passed the most recent inspections, in October last year and February this year.
Dr Nick Phin, of Public Health England, said: “Everything points to the fact it was some form of contamination at this company.
“People can be confident we are no longer at risk from that source.”
North Country Cooked Meats said previously: “The company is co-operating fully with the environmental health and the Food Standards Agency in their investigations.”
