E. coli shellfish monitoring – contractor sought

Thursday 31 May 2007

The Food Standards Agency Scotland is inviting applications for a contract(s) to monitor E. coli levels in shellfish in all Scottish shellfish classification areas.

The contractor will be required to undertake a number of tasks, including the co-ordination of a sampling programme, analysis of shellfish samples and provision of results and reports to the Food Standards Agency Scotland.

Between 1,800 and 2,200 samples are likely to be taken each year, the bulk of the sampling work currently falling in the first two weeks of each month.

It is expected that the contract or contracts will be awarded by early October 2007. Handover work would commence as soon as possible thereafter, with the full contract starting on 1 January 2008. The contract is for three years with the possibility of a two year extension.

See the link below for details of the contract notice. The deadline for return of completed questionnaires is midday on Thursday 28 June 2007.

Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but those that produce verocytotoxin (called verocytotoxin-producing E.coli, or VTEC) can cause severe illness. In the UK, the most common type is E. coli O157, but in other countries other types such as E. coli O111 and E. coli O26 are more common.