AVONMORE Foods has strongly rejected claims made in an American lawsuit that one of its subsidiaries distributed contaminated cheese in May and June.

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, Danco Cheese of Edison, New Jersey, has alleged that Avonmore Cheese shipped Questo Blanco cheese contaminated with Coliform and E Coli bacteria to New Jersey, Florida, and Michigan between May 27th and June 17th. Avonmore has denied that the cheese was unhealthy.

Danco's chief executive, Mr Dan Quinlan, has claimed that his company went out of business because of the incident and is seeking $10 million in damages and $100 million in punitive damages from Avonmore Cheese.

Avonmore's lawyer, Mr Michael Streater, described the Danco lawsuit as a "retaliatory measure against a lawsuit Avonmore has filed in Wisconsin Federal Court against Danco for $278,000 in unpaid bills.

A spokesman for Avonmore last night said the group believed "this suit is simply an attempt by Danco to avoid its obligations at Avonmore". He said Avonnmore would vigorously contest the claim and did not anticipate any loss as a result of the claim.

Danco has claimed that about 10 per cent of the 75,000 pounds of the allegedly contaminated cheese reached the public despite a recall. Avonmore said it had received no complaints. Mr Streater, Avonmore's lawyer, said. "It would seem to me that, if there were 7,000 pounds of cheese that were contaminated, you would be hearing of some problems."