PoPulationand Public HealtH etHics

an e.coli outbreak in wales –
a Failure in regulatory anD
ProFessional etHics
Thomas Tenkate, Dr.P.H.
School of Occupational and Public Health
Ryerson University
Toronto ON
tHoMas.tenkate@RyeRson.Ca
Introduction
In September 2005, the largest E.coli O157 outbreak in Welsh history (and the
second largest in the uk) occurred in South Wales, resulting in 157 cases of
food-borne illness, 31 hospital admissions and the tragic death of a five-yearold
boy. Given the scale of the outbreak, the National Assembly for Wales
initiated a Public Inquiry 1 that ran for three years and included more than
45,000 pages of evidence and 191 witnesses, and cost more than £2.3 million.
The butcher shop at the centre of the outbreak had operated as a family business
since 1966. It processed and sold a range of raw and cooked meat products
and its main customers were public-sector organizations such as schools (it
supplied meat for school meals for all primary and secondary schools in a
number of areas), hospitals, nursing homes and Meals-on-Wheels services,
as well as restaurants and direct sales to the public. Its operations can, therefore,
be considered “high risk” in terms of food safety due to the type of food
products being processed (meats) and the extreme vulnerability of the customers
supplied (children and the elderly). Operations such as these require
stringent food-safety standards and strict enforcement of these standards.
123
Meredith C. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy
Ryerson University
Toronto ON