Cheese sold at Aldi, Basket Market recalled over listeria concerns

Soft-ripened cheese sold at retailers including Aldi and Market Basket is being recalled because of what the federal government says is possible listeria contamination stemming from equipment used to produce the dairy product at an Illinois facility.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued a recall notice for products made by Savencia Cheese USA, the Pennsylvania-based manufacturer.

The company said investigators discovered traces of listeria, a deadly bacteria, in equipment used to make cheese at its Lena, Ill. facility.

Several products, including Emporium Selection Brie, La Bonne Vie Brie, La Bonne Vie Camembert and Market Basket Brie, are at risk of listeria contamination, according to the FDA notice.

Aldi sent out its own message announces the recall. The retailer said the affected products had a “best before” date of December 24.

The company said the recall was made “out of an abundance of caution.”

“Aldi puts the safety and integrity of the products it sells first.

The agency too issued a separate recall of turkey sandwiches that contained recalled cheese, also made by Savencia Cheese USA.

The FDA said CIBUS Fresh, a Noblesville, Ind.-based company, is recalling CF/ Autumn Turkey Sandwiches, J&O Autumn Turkey Sandwiches and S&S Autumn Turkey Sandwiches.

The recall stems from possible listeria contamination of Glenview Farms Spreadable Brie, which is used in the sandwiches.

The affected products were pulled from the shelves of retailers in six states – Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee.

The recalls are the latest incidents that have raised questions about food safety among American consumers in recent weeks.

Last month, McDonald’s temporarily halted sales of its Quarter Pounder sandwiches in thousands of its restaurants in 10 states after regulators said onions used in the burgers were the source of E. coli contamination.

At least 75 people have become ill due to E. coli contamination – 22 of them requiring hospitalization.

Around the same time, an Oklahoma-based meat packer, BrucePac, recalled nearly 10 million pounds of ready-to-eat beef and poultry products over concerns that they were contaminated with listeria.

Boar’s Head, the maker of deli spreads, closed a massive Virginia factory that was determined to be the source of a listeria outbreak that affected millions of pounds of product that was pulled from stores.

At least 10 deaths have been reported in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina.

The outbreak led to 59 people being hospitalized in 19 states.