String of cheese recalls continues, as does Listeria probe

To view photos of all of the recalled cheese labels provided by MDS Foods Inc., please click on the image.

Five more brands of cheese are under nationwide recall, this time by Ohio distributor MDS Foods Inc., because of Listeria monocytogenes found in finished cheese made by Deutsch Kase Haus LLC.

Although the MDS Foods recall is dated Feb. 11, it was not available on the Food and Drug Administration website until Monday afternoon. It is one of a string of cheese and salad recalls initiated since Feb. 9 when the Tennessee Department of Agriculture reported it had found Listeria through a routine random sampling program of cheese collected from a retail store.

No illnesses have been confirmed in connection to consumption of the recalled cheeses, but it can take up to 70 days for symptoms of Listeria infections to develop. Because of the relatively long shelf life of the products, officials are urging consumers to check their homes for the recalled cheese.

The MDS Foods recall includes two brands that were named in the Feb. 9 Tennessee agriculture department warning:

To view photos of all of the products recalled by MDS Foods Inc., please click on the image.

• Amish Classics; and
• Meijer.

The five other brands under recall by MDS Foods are:

• Deli Readi;
• Deli Made EZ;
• Lipari Old Tyme;
• Duck Deli; and
• Old Tyme.

A complete list of the MDS Foods recalled cheeses with identifying package coding can be found at the end of this news story.

For additional information on the Sargento recall, please click on the image.

Anyone who has eaten any of the recalled cheeses — which includes Sargento, Sara Lee and Meijer brands as well as certain H-E-B and Signature Cafe salads from Taylor Farms —  should monitor themselves for symptoms and seek medical attention if they develop. Patients should be sure to tell their doctors of suspected Listeria exposure so the proper diagnostic tests can be performed.

“Customers who have purchased any of the cheese products listed below from the affected sell by dates or any unreadable date codes are urged not to consume it and to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

To read the full recall notice with all Sara Lee products listed, please click on the image.

“MDS Foods Inc. has also recalled potentially affected products that were packaged on the same production lines in our Tullahoma, TN, Facility as the affected product.

The pathogen investigation
Tennessee inspectors from the Department of Agriculture discovered Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in Amish Classic brand cheese produced by Deutsch Käse Haus in random samples they collected from a grocery store on Jan. 30 in Trenton, TN.

On Thursday, Feb. 9, the Tennessee department posted an alert announcing a recall of Amish Classic cheeses and Meijer branded cheeses, all made by Deutsch Käse Haus.

For more details on the Taylor Farms recall of H-E-B and Signature Cafe, please click on the image.

The following day, Sargento Foods Inc. announced a recall of seven of its branded sliced and shredded cheese products made by Deutsch Käse Haus.

A day later Taylor Farms of Salinas, CA, announced a recall of more than three tons of chicken salad and pork salad products packaged under the Signature Cafe and H-E-B brands because they include cheese recalled by Sargento.

As of Monday evening it was unknown if other food companies had received the recalled cheese from Deutsch Käse Haus.

Although the Food and Drug Administration is investigating the situation, the agency is banned from revealing customer lists because they are considered “confidential corporate information.”

Deutsch Kase Haus had Listeria problems before
The Tennessee food inspectors were not the first to find Listeria in connection with the Deutsch Käse Haus production operation.

In September and October 2009, inspectors with the Food and Drug Administration observed problems at the facility including illegal labeling and improper maintenance and sanitization, according to an archived FDA warning letter. On Sept. 14 and 15, 2009, inspectors collected swabs from environmental surfaces at the Middlebury, IN, cheese plant.

Of 25 environmental surface swabs tested, 12 percent — three swabs — were positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

The plant owner at the time — Guggisberg Cheese Inc. — was given the standard 15 working days to respond to the FDA warning letter. Four years later the FDA issued a closeout letter indicating Deutsch Käse Haus had “addressed the violation(s)”

“Future FDA inspections and regulatory activities will further assess the adequacy and sustainability of these corrections,” November 2013 closeout letter states.

In November 2016, the Michigan Milk Producers Association bought Deutsch Käse Haus from Guggisberg Cheese Inc. The Deutsch Käse Haus location in Middlebury, IN, processes about 400,000 pounds of milk a day, according to the association website. The plant mainly produces colby cheese, in addition to colby-jack, monterey-jack, cheddar, pepper-jack cheese and other flavors.

Cheese products being recalled by MDS Foods Inc. because of contamination found in products:

Item#	Brand	Product	Size	Piece UPC	Case UPC	Date(s)
55209	Amish Classics	Colby Deli (Mini) Horn	6 lb	8 28653 552093	00 8 28653 552093	Sell by: May 17, 2017
55241	Amish Classics	Colby RW Fullmoon	About 8 oz	8 28653 55241 3	00 8 28653 55241 3	Best if used by: 07/10/17 7/4/2017 6/4/2017 5/19/2017
55245	Amish Classics	Colby EW Fullmoon	8 oz	8 28653 55245 1	00 8 28653 55245 1	Best if used by:7/10/2017 7/4/2017 6/3/2017 5/19/2017
55831	Deli Readi	Colby Mini Cheese Slices	2 lb pack	6 34660 62859 7	00 6 34660 628597	Best if used by:05/02/2017 4/22/2017
55553	Deli Made EZ	Colby Cheese Slices	1.5 lb pack	8 28653 55554 4	00 8 28653 55553 7	335-16
18755	Meijer	Colby Jack Mini Horn	6 lb	710917 18755	7 10917 18755	Sell by Date: 05/02/17
55755	Meijer	Colby Mini Horn	6 lb	710917 55755	7 10917 55755	Sell by Date: 05/02/17

 

Cheese products recalled by MDS Foods Inc. because of potential contamination:

Item#	Brand	Product	Size	Piece UPC	Case UPC	Date(s)
55244	Amish Classics	Colby RW Halfmoon	Approx. 8 oz	N/A	0 08 28653 552444	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
55758	Meijer	Colby EW Halfmoon	8 oz	7 13733 34047 2	0 07 13733 34047 2	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
18244	Amish Classics	Colby Jack RW Halfmoon	Approx. 8 oz	N/A	00828653182443	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
18758	Meijer	Colby Jack EW Halfmoon Chunk	8 oz	713733340588	00713733340588	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
18241	Amish Classics	Colby Jack RW Fullmoon	Approx. 8 oz	N/A	0 08 28653 18241 2	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
18245	Amish Classics	Colby Jack EW Fullmoon	8 oz	828653182450	00828653182450	Best if used by: 07/10/2017
28245	Amish Classics	Cheddar EW Fullmoon	8 oz	828653282457	00828653282457	Best if used by: 07/10/2017 07/04/2017
73705	Lipari Old Tyme	Swiss Sandwich Cut	Approx 8.5 lbs	N/A	00828653737056	Best if used by: 07/04/2017
10241	Amish Classics	Jalapeno RW Fullmoon	Approx. 8 oz	N/A	0 08 28653 102410	Best if used by: 07/04/2017
10245	Amish Classics	Jalapeno EW Fullmoon	8 oz	828653102458	00828653102458	Best if used by: 07/04/2017
18830	Deli Readi	Colby Jack St Pk 1oz Halfmoon Slice	1 lb	6 34660628757	006 34660 62875 7	Best if used by: 05/02/2017
10831	Deli Readi	Jalapeno St Pk 1oz Slice	2 lb pack	6 34660628788	0 0634660 628788	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
26831	Deli Readi	Hot Pepper St Pk 1oz Slice	2 lb pack	6 34660628689	0 0634660 628689	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
26555	Deli Made EZ	Hot Pepper St Pk .5oz Slice	1.5 lb pack	8 28653 265559	0 08 28653 265559	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
28747	Duck Deli	Cheddar St Pk .75oz Slice	1.5 lb pack	8 28653 287476	0 08 28653 287476	Production Date: 358-16
28545	Deli Made EZ	Cheddar St Pk .75oz Slice	2.0 lb pack	8 28653 285458	0 08 28653 285458	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
28555	Deli Made EZ	Ched Mild St Pk .5oz Slice	1.5 lb pack	8 28653 285557	0 08 28653 28555 7	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
55830	Deli Readi	Colby St Pk 1oz Halfmoon Slices	1.0 lb pack	6 34660 628726	0 06 34660 62872 6	Best if used by: 04/22/2017
55703	Old Tyme	Colby EW Halfmoon	8 oz	0 94776 10227 3	0 00 41563 26105 7	Best if used by: 06/03/2017
10555	Deli Made EZ	Jalapeno Jack St Pk .5oz Slice	1.5 lb pack	8 28653 10555 8	0 08 28653 105558	Best if used by: 03/30/2017

 

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