Dunsyre Blue Cheese

Dunsyre Blue Cheese

Dunsyre was a Scottish farmhouse blue cheese.

It was a creamy cheese, with a moist, white rind with bluish-green spicy veins running through it. It had a mild, almost sweet taste.

Dunsyre Blue Cheese was made at Walston Braehead Farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland by Selina Cairns from raw milk from Ayrshire cows curdled with vegetarian rennet.

The curd was formed into foil-wrapped cylinders varying in size from 3 to 4 pounds (1.4 – 1.8 kg), then aged 6 to 12 weeks.

Dunsyre Blue Cheese was sold in cheese shops in 250 g, 500 g or 1 kg cuts.

The cheese company, Errington, still makes Lanark Blue Cheese.

Note: Production of Dunsyre Blue Cheese was halted in August 2019 and as of 2022 had not recommenced. See History below.

Nutrition

Dunsyre Blue Cheese had a 45% fat content.

History Notes

Humphrey Errington created Dunsyre Blue Cheese. He originally wanted to make a winter cheese from sheep’s milk, but his sheep wouldn’t produce milk in the autumn, so he used cow’s milk instead.

“Humphrey, [Selina’s] father, went into dairy sheep in the early 80’s. She tells us that her father didn’t have a farming background, he studied History at Cambridge then worked in shipping, before he realised that he wanted something else out of life and bought a farm. He discovered some historical connection to milking dairy sheep in the area, and so he decided to diversify and make cheese.” ^[1]Thomson, Catriona. Scotland’s Larder: Selina Cairns from Errington Cheese. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Scotsman. 29 January 2021. Accessed January 2022 at https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/producers/scotlands-larder-selina-cairns-from-errington-cheese/

At some point, his daughter Selina Cairns took over the business.

In July 2016, the raw milk cheese was implicated by Food Standards Scotland in an E. coli outbreak:

“Between July and mid-September 2016, 26 cases of the same strain of E. coli O157 were identified in the outbreak in which 17 people were hospitalized and a three-year-old girl died. A report in March 2017 from a multi-agency Incident Management Team concluded the outbreak source was an unpasteurized cows’ milk cheese called Dunsyre Blue. Of 24 primary cases, 15 consumed the cheese within eight days prior to the onset of symptoms.” ^[2]FSS cites MPI review backing conclusions in Errington Cheese case. Food Safety News. 11 September 2018. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/09/fss-cites-mpi-review-backing-conclusions-in-errington-cheese-case/

Errington Cheese disputed and continues to dispute that Dunsyre Blue cheese was the cause of the outbreak. The actual strain of E. coli implicated was not found in Errington’s milk supply:

“The outbreak strain was not detected in cheese or the raw milk supply used to make it, but other different Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) and stx-negative E. coli O157 strains were isolated from the raw cow’s milk and unpasteurized cow and sheep cheese made by Errington Cheese.” ^[3]FSS cites MPI review backing conclusions in Errington Cheese case. Food Safety News. 11 September 2018. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/09/fss-cites-mpi-review-backing-conclusions-in-errington-cheese-case/

Courts did not find enough evidence for any proceedings against the company:

“The Crown Office said there would be no criminal proceedings because of a lack of evidence linking Errington to the death of the girl.” ^[4]Thomson, Catriona. Scotland’s Larder: Selina Cairns from Errington Cheese. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Scotsman. 29 January 2021. Accessed January 2022 at https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/producers/scotlands-larder-selina-cairns-from-errington-cheese/

After the outbreak, the company made an attempt to revive the reputation of the cheese. It switched to making the cheese from pasteurized milk:

“Since the Health Protection Scotland report that linked Errington to the E. coli outbreak, it has produced Dunsyre Blue with pasteurized milk on new equipment and has said it spent more than $1 million to restore its name.” ^[5]Cheese maker did not test raw milk for E. coli ; 1 died, 25 fell ill. Food Safety News. 1 February 2018. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/02/scottish-cheese-maker-did-not-test-for-e-coli

It entered the cheese in competitions, and in November 2018,  Dunsyre Blue Cheese won a silver award at the World Cheese Awards in Bergen, Norway. ^[6]”In November Errington Cheese won three medals at the World Cheese Awards. Two batches of Corra Linn, made with unpasteurised ewes’ milk, won gold, while the company’s Dunsyre Blue won silver at the event in Bergen, Norway.” — Simpson, Alan. Firm stops production of Dunsyre Blue cheese after council action ‘destroys’ reputation. Glasgow, Scotland: The Herald. 19 August 2019. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17847319.firm-stops-production-dunsyre-blue-cheese-council-action-destroys-reputation/

Despite these efforts, sales did not recover and so in August 2019 production was halted:

“Selina Cairns, director of the firm and daughter of company founder Humphrey Errington, said: “With regret we have decided to stop production of Dunsyre Blue for the time being. “Sadly, its reputation has been destroyed by the authorities and I have found it very difficult to persuade people to list it.” ^[7]Simpson, Alan. Firm stops production of Dunsyre Blue cheese after council action ‘destroys’ reputation. Glasgow, Scotland: The Herald. 19 August 2019. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17847319.firm-stops-production-dunsyre-blue-cheese-council-action-destroys-reputation/

Sources

Grigson, Jane. Fare of the Country: Scottish Cheese’s Earthy Poetry. New York Times. Sunday, 4 February 1990.

National Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 Phage Type 21/28 in Scotland (July-September 2016). Food Safety Scotland. 29 March 2017. Accessed January 2022 at https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/national-outbreak-of-escherichia-coli-o157-phage-type-2128-in-scotland-july-september-2016/