U.S.

Cheese Being Recalled

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

November 10, 2000 / 1:18 PM EST / CBS

A number of cheese sellers around the country are recalling brands that may be contaminated with listeria bacteria after a Wisconsin cheese supplier notified them of the problem.

Cheese in at least 21 states is being recalled. The problem apparently stems from cheese produced by Hill & Valley Cheese, Inc., in Cashton, Wis.

Company president Michael Everhart said in a statement released Monday that "Hill and Valley Cheese, Inc., and Wisconsin Hill and Valley Cheese Co-op have recalled all Cheddar cheese, Semi-soft Marble cheese, Colby cheese and Monterey Jack cheese made from June 8, 200 through October 25, 2000."

He also said the company has instructed companies who have purchased cheese from Hill & Valley Cheese, Inc., to retrieve all affected products.

The recall was ordered after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection notified company that the bacteria were found in samples of cheese collected during an inspection at the company's at the Cashton plant.

Companies that are marketing the cheese include Schriber Foods of Green Bay, Wis.; Swiss American, Inc., of St. Louis, Mo., as well as Spartan brand and Home Harvest brand sold by Spartan retail and Spartan-supplied stores in Michigan.

How many more companies bought and resold the cheese is uncertain. A Hill & Valley official said Thursday the company could not identify all the resellers and declined to say how many pounds of cheese were recalled.

No illness caused by the recalled cheese has been reported so far. But each year the bacteria are thought to be responsible for an estimated 500 deaths and 2,500 cases of serious illness. They can cause life-threatening infections in young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems and can cause miscarriages or stillbirths even if the pregnant women feel no symptoms.

Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea and if the infection spreads to the nervous system it can cause headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance or convulsions.

Cheese thought to be involved has been sold in grocery stores in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Customers are advised not to eat the recalled cheese but to return it to the place of purchase for a refund or to dispose of it.

For a partial list of recalled brands, consumers can check the FDA's Internet site at http://www.fda.gov