Listeria Outbreak From Cheese Hits CA; 25 Brands Impacted

CALIFORNIA — Federal health regulators warned the public to throw out certain cheeses as they investigate listeria cases that have emerged around the nation. The CDC linked six cases to the outbreak, including one in California. In total, there are products from 25 brands, consumers are being urged to throw out.

Old Europe Cheese, Inc. issued a recall on its brie and camembert cheeses because of potential listeria contamination. The recall includes several brands in stores and restaurants throughout California.

The impacted products were distributed from Aug. 1 through Wednesday to retailers such as Stop & Shop, Whole Foods and Lidl. The recall includes select products from the following brands, according to the Food and Drug Administration:

• Reny Picot
• Black Bear
• Block & Barrel
• Charmant
• Cobblestone
• Culinary Tour
• Fredericks
• Fresh Thyme
• Glenview Farms
• Good & Gather
• Heinen’s
• Joan of Arc
• La Bonne Vie
• Lidl Preferred Selection
• Life in Provence
• Matrie’d
• Market 32
• Metropolitan
• Prestige
• Primo Taglio
• Red Apple Cheese
• St. Randeaux
• Taste of Inspiration
• St. Rocco
• Trader Joe's

The recalled products have best-by dates ranging from Sept. 28 to Dec. 14. See a full list of impacted products with photos.

Five of the six people sicked were hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported. The last illness onset occurred Aug. 5, and cases go back as far as 2017, federal health officials said.

Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA says. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths during pregnancy.

The recall occurred after a full environmental audit of 120 samples of both the product and the company's facilities. None of the products showed contamination, but one facility's samples tested positive, according to the FDA. The positive strain has been linked to six listeria cases in the past five years, health officials said.

"The source of potential contamination has been identified and Old Europe Cheese is taking active measures to eliminate it," the recall notice says. "Production of these products has been stopped and will not restart until the Company has full confidence in the effectivity of the applied measures."

Health officials advised consumers, restaurants and retailers to throw away the impacted cheeses. Retailers may have repackaged bulk cheese items into smaller containers and sold the repackaged products to customers without the original labeling or product information. If you're unsure where your brie or camembert cheese is from, ask your retailer or throw it away, the FDA says.

Old Europe Cheese has a telephone line to answer questions about the recall: 269-925-5003 ext. 335, available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. ET.

Consumers with symptoms should contact their health care provider, the FDA says. To report a complaint of adverse event (illness or serious allergic reaction), consumers can:

• call an FDA consumer complaint coordinator to speak directly to a person.
• complete a Voluntary MedWatch form online.
• complete a paper Voluntary MedWatch form to mail to the FDA