Whole Foods is recalling Maytag raw milk blue cheese over listeria concerns.
The nationwide recall was made after recent testing by Iowa state authorities revealed that two lots of the product are tainted with Listeria monocytogenes.
Maytag Dairy Farms has suspended its production and distribution while investigation is ongoing. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the product recall.
An FDA recall announcement noted that the recall covers 35 lots of 1, 4, and 8-ounce Maytag blue cheese wedges and 2 and 4-pound wheels, as well as 43 batches of 8-ounce and 5-pound crumbles. The affected products were sold nationwide from Nov. 24, 2015 to Feb. 11 this year.
The cheese was packaged in clear plastic wrap, with the label “Maytag Blue,” “Maytag Blue Raw Milk” or “Maytag Iowa Blue Cheese.”
Customers who bought the affected product may return it to any Whole Foods store along with the receipt to get a full refund.
Back in October, Whole Foods also announced a nationwide recall of its Papillon organic Roquefort cheese (cut, wrapped and weighed) while citing the same potential listeria contamination. The announcement came after an FDA sampling detected the bacteria in a wheel of the cheese.
According to the FDA, the bacteria can cause serious and sometimes deadly infections among children, the elderly and individuals with weak immunity, such as patients with cancer, HIV, diabetes and kidney disease.
Healthy individuals who fall ill from listeria may experience high fever, headache, nausea, stiffness and diarrhea, and may need to be hospitalized. Pregnant women may be at risk of miscarriages and stillbirths.
Listeria bacteria can spread to other food items once brought home – it can, for instance, grow and proliferate in the refrigerator.
Listeria appears to be a worldwide concern, with Tesco Ireland ordering the recall of some of its flavored butter products last Monday over contamination fears. The supermarket company is withdrawing all batches of its Roast Garlic & Herb Butter Product, along with two varieties of its flavored butter discs.
In January, Dole also called back its salads packaged in its Springfield, Ohio facility. The products were linked to a listeria outbreak that resulted in 11 people sick and one dead.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
