For anyone who has bought brie or camembert cheese at their local grocery store as of late, it might be a good time to double check the packaging. On September 30th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Old Europe Cheese— a manufacturer based in Michigan— issued a voluntary recall of these two types of cheeses after they were linked to a listeria outbreak. These items were sold at several major grocery store retailers nationwide and in Mexico, including Albertsons, Giant Foods, Lidl, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Meijer, Safeway, and “many more,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes.
RECALL: Listeria Outbreak Linked to Brie and Camembert Cheese! Do not eat recalled cheese. Throw it away. Clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that may have touched the recalled cheese. Listeria can survive in the fridge and easily spread to other foods and surfaces. pic.twitter.com/AjMNeaEDL5
— Alexa Farrell (@AlexaNFarrell) October 11, 2022
These cheeses, Self reports, were sold under the following brand names: Black Bear, Block & Barrel, Charmant, Cobblestone, Culinary Tour, Fredericks, Fresh Thyme, Glenview Farms, Good & Gather, Heinen’s, Joan of Arc, La Bonne Vie, Lidl, Life in Provence, Market 32, Matrie’d, Metropolitan, Prestige, Primo Taglio, Red Apple Cheese, Reny Picot, St. Randeaux, St. Rocco, Taste of Inspiration, and Trader Joe’s.
Dozens of Cheese Products Have Been Recalled, Due to a Listeria Outbreak https://t.co/KU9aCVkTII pic.twitter.com/ksfEde3hY6
— Bon Marini (@BonMarini) October 10, 2022
FDA links listeria outbreak to cheese sold by Whole Foods, Safeway and other retailershttps://t.co/CD9lKy0sMO#news#inew_news pic.twitter.com/bwKickO9Ve
— inew news (@inew_news) October 15, 2022
The listeria outbreak was discovered after Old Europe Cheese conducted an audit of 120 samples of the company’s products and facilities, Eat This, Not That reports. While none of these products initially showed contamination, listeria was “found in one of the facilities.” This particular strain, the publication added, has been linked to “six cases of Listeriosis dated from 2017 to 2022.” According to the CDC, across six US states; California, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, there have been five hospitalizations related to this.
ALERT CENTER: At least five people have been hospitalized after a nationwide listeria outbreak has been linked to brie and camembert cheeses. https://t.co/kbbcxPDmqy
— News12LI (@News12LI) October 11, 2022
The FDA urges consumers who might still have these recalled cheeses in their homes to discard them immediately, and “use extra vigilance” in cleaning any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with them. The affected products display “Best By” dates between September 28, 2022, and December 14, 2022. They were sold under 25 different brand names, and were distributed to 16 different retailers between August 1, 2022, and September 28, 2022. The full list of brands, product codes and other information related to these cheeses can be found here.
