Deadly Listeria Outbreak Linked To Cheese Sold At NJ Whole Foods: CDC

NEW JERSEY — Federal health officials are warning New Jersey residents to check their refrigerators for several cheese products linked to a recent listeria outbreak, including one sold at Whole Foods Market locations throughout the state.

California-based Rizo-López Foods recalled dozens of cheese and yogurt products on Tuesday due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Listeria is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.

The recalled products — which were sold in stores nationwide — were sold under the brand names Tio Francisco, Don Francisco, Rizo Bros, Rio Grande, Food City, El Huache, La Ordena, San Carlos, Campesino, Santa Maria, Dos Ranchitos, Casa Cardenas, and 365 by Whole Foods Market, according to officials.

Affected 365 by Whole Foods Market products include whole and part-skim ricotta cheeses. A spokesperson with Whole Foods confirmed to Patch the ricotta was shipped to locations nationwide.

Of 26 people reported sick, 23 have been hospitalized and two deaths have been reported, according to officials.

So far, no illnesses have been reported in New Jersey.

The CDC investigated this outbreak in 2017 and 2021 when epidemiological evidence in previous investigations identified queso fresco and other similar cheeses as a potential source of the outbreak. However, at the time, there was not enough information to identify a specific brand.

Officials reopened the investigation in January after new illnesses were reported in December and the outbreak strain was found in a cheese sample from Rizo-López Foods, according to officials.

The FDA inspected the Rizo-López Foods facility and found the outbreak strain of Listeria on a container where cheeses are kept before they are packaged, according to officials.

If infected with Listeria, healthy people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, officials said. The infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported as not all people who become sick are tested, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, officials noted.

Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers for any of the products listed here and throw them away, according to the FDA.

Affected 365 by Whole Foods Market products were sold at the following New Jersey locations:

• 1558 Kings Hwy. N., Cherry Hill,
• 940 Route 73 North, Marlton,
• 3495 U.S. Route 1 South, Princeton
• 319 Chimney Rock Rd., Bound Brook
• 110 Washington St., Morristown
• 60 Waterview Blvd., Parsippany
• 222 Main St., Madison
• 645 Middlesex Ave., Metuchen
• 1255 Raritan Rd. Unit 150, Clark
• 2245 Springfield Ave., Vauxhall
• 113 Route 9 South, Marlboro
• 235 Prospect Ave., West Orange
• 560 Valley Rd., Wayne
• 701 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
• 633 Broad St., Newark
• 44 Godwin Ave., Ridgewood
• 500 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Woodcliff Lake
• 300 Bergen Town Center, Paramus
• 471 St Rt 35 N., Red Bank
• 135 Greene St., Jersey City
• 1400 Waterfront Terrace, Weehawken
• 905 River Rd., Edgewater
• 45 Vervalen St., Closter
• 1933 NJ-35, Wall