The 83-page report by the Wales regulator makes nine recommendations, which were forwarded to Hugh Pennington, a scientist charged with holding a public inquiry into an outbreak of E. coli in 2005 that killed a schoolchild and lead to 157 others falling sick.

The inquiry is due to begin in February 2008. The other recommendations relate to health and safety measures at schools and institutions.

The outbreak was traced back to cooked sliced meats supplied to 44 schools in Wales by John Tudor & Son, a manufacturer in Bridgend, South Wales. Principal and chief executive William John Tudor was sentenced by Cardiff Crown Court last Friday to a year in jail for seven offences relating to the fatal outbreak of E.coli O157.

Tudor had pleaded guilty to the offences. The report was released after the sentencing due to legal reasons.

The report found that an inspection on 19 September of the Tudor plant found a number of contraventions of food hygiene legislation and poor practices that may result in the cross contamination of cooked and raw meats.

According to evidence heard in court, a vacuum-packing machine at the Tudor plant was "wrongly used" for both raw and cooked meats. Evidence submitted before the court included the finding that juices from raw meat frequently got into the packer during the wrapping process.

The court also heard evidence that an employee was told by Tudor not to use the vacuum packer for cooked meat whenever food inspectors were visiting

The inspection resulted in an emergency prohibition notice stating that the vacuum packing process "posed an imminent risk of injury to health" due to cross contamination.

Inspectors also found the packer in an unclean state and that it was placed underneath an electronic fly killer.

Inspectors did not identify any concerns in relation to Tudor's suppliers.

After another visit to the plant on the 20 September, inspectors closed the business due to "the unsanitary condition of the premises due to inadequate disinfection procedures".

On 4 October 2005 a child with confirmed E coli O157 died. As a result, South Wales Police secured the premise and treated it as a scene of crime. Local courts ordered on 9 December that the emergency prohibition notices be lifted

The one year sentence given down to Tudor, who has indicated he would appeal, emphasises the need for processors to follow the tougher food safety laws they increasingly have had to follow since these came into effect beginning in 2004. It also indicates that regulators are taking a tougher line on breaches of food safety regulations.