Posted: March 3rd, 2010 - 12:58pm by Doug Powell

Maybe I’m losing something in translation.

On Sunday, Prolactal of Austria said in a statement that its Quargel cheese, which has killed 8 or 10 people depending on the source, and has sickened dozens, was contaminated with listeria from using cultures “that do not give enough protection," whatever that means.

Today, the Styrian weekly newspaper Woche claimed the company said “a scarab or type of beetle (Dungkäfer or aphodius fimetarius) had been the carrier of the disease. Beetles had climbed through a window left open and contaminated machines used to make the cheese.”

So if making cheese, don’t leave the windows open.