Supermarkets force rethink over muck spreading Major retailers are forcing an end to the controversial practice of spreading untreated sewage sludge on farmland. The water companies are expected to announce a voluntary ban next month following negotiations with the British Retail Consortium. Supermarket chiefs pressed the Water Services Association to act in response to growing concerns about the threat to food safety posed by disease carrying pathogens such as E.Coli. The WSA has agreed to a deal which effectively commits the utilities to pasteurise all organic waste used as fertiliser. Their pact also introduces a safe sludge matrix which lays down minimum intervals between spreading sludge on farmland and the planting of food crops. About 500,000 tonnes of sewage sludge is used as fertilizer each year. Most is treated before spreading, but pasteurisation is uncommon. It destroys all harmful contaminants ­ but is expensive. {{NEWS }}