Recalls: Ground Beef and Imported Cheese

Update on cheese recall (8/5/13): Trois Comtois of Poligny, France is recalling all Trois Comtois brand Morbier cheese lot #949038 because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Product was distributed in MD, VA, OH, Washington DC, IL, IN, LA, MI, MN, MO, NE, OK, TX, WI, CA, OR, WA, AZ, UT, HI between June 1st and July 24th, 2013. Products were sold to supermarkets and gourmet stores.

No illness have been reported to date.

If you have purchased any of this cheese, contact your distributor or retailer for a full refund. If you have any questions, please call Trois Comtois Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm (EST) at +1 201 448 8787 and mention recall.

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If you have some of the recently recalled ground beef (in this case, contaminated with E. coli), it won't make you sick if you cook it to at least 160°F.  But if you're preparing a meal for folks who like their burgers rare or even medium rare, there is a risk of illness.  The recalled cheese is likely to cause illness if someone eats a piece containing listeria since we often serve and eat cheese without heating it.  In either case, the safest move is to get possibly contaminated food out of your house-- into the garbage or returned to the store for a refund.   Details about where these risky products originated, how to identify them, and what businesses sold them are below.

Ground Beef

On July 31, 2013, the FSIS (the  USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service) announced a recall of more than 50,000 lbs. of ground beef products produced by the National Beef Packing Company in Liberal, Kansas because of possible contamination with E. coli 0157:H7.   A list of the recalled products and their code numbers is here. 

All these products bear the establishment number “EST. 208A” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on July 18, 2013 and were shipped to retailers, wholesalers, and food service distributors nationwide.  FSIS and the National Beef Packing Company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products. 

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors, and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

FSIS advises all consumers to safely prepare their raw meat products, and consume ground beef only if it has been cooked to a temperature of at least 160° F. The only way to confirm that ground beef is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer and measure the internal temperature of the food.

On June 18, 2013, the same company issued a recall on its ground beef, which, at that time, tested positive for the same "bug."  That ground beef had been shipped to a limited number of wholesale and food service distributors and military commissaries.

Trois Comtois Morbier Cheese

On July 31, Whole Foods Market announced that it was recalling Trois Comtois Morbier cheese in the Mid Atlantic, Southwest, Northern California, Southern Pacific, and Midwest regions. This cheese was recalled because it had the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Below is a list showing how the cheese was labeled, including PLU codes used in various states in which the product was sold.

To date, no illnesses related to this cheese have been reported to Whole Foods Market. This recall was issued in response to a recall by Trois Comtois in Poligny, France. Whole Foods Market is one of many retailers affected by this recall, as the product was also purchased by other grocery stores, restaurants, and individual mail orders.

Note that this imported French cheese was made with raw milk. Shelf Life Advice has pointed out before that cheeses made with raw milk are a health risk unless they're properly aged, which is impossible to do with soft cheeses. To learn more about this, read these articles:

"FAQ about Soft Cheeses--What's Safe, What Isn't."

"How Long Should Cheese Be Aged?  Will the Rules Be Changed?" 

Source(s):

fsis.usda.gov "News Release: Kansas Firm Recalls Beef Products Due To Possible E. Coli O157:H7 Contamination"

nationalbeef.com "Ground Beef Recall"

http://www.nationalbeef.com/Products/NBBrands/Pages/Recall.aspx

fda.gov "Whole Foods Market recalls Troic Comtois Morbier cheese because of possible health risk"

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm363301.htm