The Michigan-based company issued a recall involving 25 brands of brie and camembert cheese after five people were hospitalized with a listeria strain, health officials said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its September 30 recall notice that these products are manufactured by Old European Cheese Company and sold at popular retailers in the U.S. and Mexico.
The cheese will be available from August 1st to September 28th at Albertsons, Safeway, Meijer, Harding’s, Shaw’s, Price Chopper, Market Basket, Raley’s, Save Mart, Giant Foods, Stop & Shop, Fresh Thyme, Lidl, Sprouts, Athens Foods, and Whole Foods, according to the notice.
The company advises consumers to avoid consuming cheeses with expiration dates between September 28, 2022 and December 14, 2022.
The recalled products were marketed under the following brand names:
- black bear
- block & barrel
- charmant
- cobblestone
- culinary tour
- fredericks
- fresh thyme
- Glenview Farms
- Good & Gather
- Heinen’s
- Jeanne d’Arc
- La Bonne Vie
- Riddle
- Life in Provence
- Market 32
- Matryd
- metropolitan
- Prestige
- Primo Talio
- red apple cheese
- Lenny Pico
- sun landau
- Saint Rocco
- taste of inspiration
- trader joe
According to a recall notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some retailers may be repackaging cheese into smaller containers for individual resale. Distributors advise consumers to contact retailers if unsure or to ditch brie or camembert cheese.
CDC advises anyone who may have purchased affected products to immediately throw them away and clean refrigerators, containers, and surfaces that may have come into contact with recalled products. increase. The agency says Listeria can survive in the refrigerator and spread to other foods and surfaces.
For product details, please refer to the recall notice from the CDC or FDA, or contact the Old Europe Cheese Helpline at (269) 925-5003.
The recall was triggered after a “full environmental audit” of 120 products, including areas of manufacturing facilities, to find possible listeria contamination.
None of the cheeses tested positive for bacteria, but one sample from the facility did, according to the company. The strain matched that of the outbreak.
Listeria infections associated with the same strain have been observed in California, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, according to the CDC. Five patients were hospitalized for infection, four of whom reported eating brie or camembert cheese.
Listeria monocytogenes
According to the CDC, Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterium that can cause illness with short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
Although it is generally rare and causes mild infections in healthy people, it primarily affects young children, the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women.
In pregnant women, it can cause serious problems, including miscarriage and stillbirth, and can cause serious illness in the fetus and newborn. Listeria can sometimes cause severe infections in the bloodstream or in the brain, such as sepsis, which can lead to meningitis or encephalitis.
An estimated 1,600 people contract listeriosis each year, and about 260 of them die from the disease.
