Cheese Recall Linked to Listeria Outbreak

A renowned cheese producer, Sargento Foods from Wisconsin, is facing repercussions from recalls connected to Rizo-López Foods, a dairy company in California, due to a lethal listeria outbreak.

Sargento Foods informed specific food service clients about the recall of shredded cheese from Rizo-López, which was supplied to them as an ingredient, as stated by a spokesperson to CBS News.

The recall pertains to a “limited amount of our foodservice and ingredients products,” including cheese obtained from the California company, with no impact on consumer cheese sales, but rather affecting business clients, the spokesperson highlighted.

Initiated on Feb. 5, 2024, by Sargento in Plymouth, Wisconsin, the recall is ongoing, according to an event report posted by the FDA online.

Sargento has terminated its agreement with Rizo-López and has informed affected customers, the spokesperson added.

Established in 1953, the family-run cheese producer has five sites in Wisconsin, employing over 2,500 people and generating $1.8 billion in net annual sales.

The company’s recall of previously recalled cheese is part of an ongoing situation, with the FDA investigating a listeria outbreak linked to cheese from Modesto, California-based Rizo-López. This inquiry has led to a significant expansion of cheese and dairy product recalls, encompassing items like vending machine sandwiches, ready-to-eat enchiladas, snacks, dips, dressings, wraps, salads, and taco kits.

At least 26 people in 11 states have fallen ill in the ongoing listeria outbreak, with 23 hospitalized. The most recent case occurred in December, according to the CDC. A fatality in California in 2017 and another in Texas in 2020 were reported by the CDC in its latest update on Feb. 13, 2024.

This cheese recall news follows an earlier report this week concerning listeria, the bacteria responsible for listeriosis, a severe infection typically contracted by consuming contaminated food.

A listeria outbreak nearly a decade ago resulted in two fatalities, with former cheese maker Johannes Vulto from Walton, New York, pleading to misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Vulto and his now-defunct company, Vulto Creamery, were identified as the source of the sole multistate listeria outbreak in 2017, according to federal officials.

The CDC estimates that about 1,600 Americans contract listeriosis each year, resulting in approximately 260 deaths.