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2 dozen brands of soft cheeses recalled because of potential listeria contamination

Patriot-News - 10/4/2022

Old Europe Cheese of Michigan has voluntarily recalled two dozen brands of brie and camembert cheeses because they have the potential to be contaminated with listeria.

Recalled are all brie and camembert cheeses with best-by dates through Dec. 14, 2022.

The cheeses were distributed between Aug. 1 and Sept. 28 and were sold at supermarkets, wholesalers and retail stores nationwide, according to an announcement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Stores included - Albertsons, Safeway, Meijer, Harding’s, Shaw’s, Price Chopper, Market Basket, Raley’s, Save Mart, Giant Foods, Stop & Shop, Fresh Thyme, Lidl, Sprouts, Athenian Foods and Whole Foods.

The cheeses were sold under brand names including Black Bear, Block and Barrel, Charmant, Cobblestone, Culinary Tour, Fredericks, Fresh Thyme, Glenview Farms, Good and Gather, Heinen, Joan of Arc, La Bonne Vie, Lidl, Life in Provence, Market 32, Matrie’D, Metropolitan, Prestige, Primo Taglio, Red Apple, Reny Picot, St. Randeaux, Taste of Inspiration and Trader Joe.

You can see all recalled products and UPC codes here.

According to the FDA, listeria is an organism that “can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.”

The FDA said the recall “was triggered after a full environmental audit of 120 samples, both of the product and of the company’s facilities. None of the products showed contamination, but one of the facilities’ samples tested positive.

The strain from that positive case has been linked to six cases of listeriosis dating from 2017 to 2022. These cases were not previously linked to this company’s products, but Old Europe Cheese decided to do this voluntary recall in order to avoid any risk to their customers.”

Old Europe Cheese said, “The source of potential contamination has been identified and Old Europe Cheese is taking active measures to eliminate it.

Production of these products has been stopped and will not restart until the Company has full confidence in the effectivity of the applied measures.”

People who bought the cheese should not eat it and should “use extra vigilance in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with these products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Listeria can survive in refrigerated temperatures and can easily spread to other foods and surfaces.”

For more information, call Old Europe Cheese at 269-925-5003, ext. 335, between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

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