One of the largest cheesemakers in the United States is recalling several of its products over fears of listeria contamination.
Sargento Foods Inc. announced over the weekend that certain packages of its Ultra Thin Sliced Longhorn Colby and Chef Blends Shredded Nacho & Taco Cheese must be recalled “due to a potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes.”
Listeriosis is a serious infection that’s usually caused by eating contaminated food and can be particularly dangerous for pregnant women and older people. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and sometimes diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 1,600 cases are reported in the United States every year, with 260 resulting in death, according to the CDC.
Sargento said on its website that it ordered the recall after being notified by a supplier in Indiana that its Longhorn Colby cheese may have been contaminated.
The cheese in question was all packaged at Sargento’s plant in Plymouth, Wisconsin. The company said it was recalling five additional products packaged at that same facility “out of an abundance of caution.”
Those include Sliced Colby-Jack Cheese, Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese, Chef Blends Shredded Taco Cheese, Off The Block Shredded Fine Cut Colby-Jack Cheese and Off The Block Shredded Fine Cut Cheddar Jack Cheese.
Sargento said there have been no confirmed reports of illnesses. The company urges consumers to go online and check the UPC code on their cheese to see whether it is affected by the recall.
“The safety of our consumers and our employees is our top priority at Sargento and at the very heart of all we do,” said a statement on the company’s website.
Other companies have also started recalling items that may have used Sargento products.
The recall prompted Taylor Farms to recall 6,630 pounds of chicken and pork salad products that may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes. Sargento supplies some cheese products to Taylor Farms.
Taylor Farms said certain packages of its Signature Cafe Southwest Chicken Premade Salad, Signature Café Southwest Style Salad with Chicken and H-E-B Shake Rattle & Bowl Rowdy Ranch Hand were subject to the recall.
A statement from the US Food Safety and Inspection Service said the salad products being recalled had been shipped to distribution centers in Los Angeles and Tracy, California; Portland, Oregon; and Houston, Roanoke and San Antonio, Texas.
Country Fresh is recalling 2,552 cases of cooking and snacking products that contain Sargento-branded cheeses.
The recalled products include Tuscan Style Mushrooms, Stuffed Mushrooms, Southwest Stuffed Mushrooms, Marketside Garlic Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms and Ready Fresh Go Fruit and Hatch Pepper Cheese.
The products were shipped to retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
MDS Foods recalled products found to be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes and other products that may have been contaminated.
The contaminated products include Amish Classics Colby Deli (Mini) Horns, Amish Classics Colby Fullmoons, Deli Readi Colby Mini Cheese Slices, Deli Made EZ Colby Cheese Slices, Meijer Colby Jack (Mini) Horns and Meijer Colby (Mini) Horns.
The list of other cheese products being recalled by MDS Foods can be found here.
Choice Farms initiated a recall of seven individual trays of stuffed mushrooms with contaminated cheese that were sold Friday at a handful of Kroger stores in Texas and Kansas.
