The Recall Desk
HighFDA (Food)·F-1035-2015·Announced 2015-02-18

Whole Foods Recalls Raw Sheep Milk Cheese for Listeria Risk

Whole Foods Market is recalling Shepherdista Bleating Heart cheese due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The product was sold in California, Arizona, and Hawaii.

What this means for you

Real risk of harm even if no illness or injury has been reported yet. Stop using the product and follow the agency's guidance.

Our severity reasoning: The recall involves a high-risk pathogen (Listeria monocytogenes) without reported illnesses, which aligns with the 'High' severity criteria in the rubric.

Plain-English summary

Whole Foods Market is recalling Shepherdista Bleating Heart cheese, a raw sheep milk product, due to the potential presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The cheese is sold in clear plastic wrap with a Whole Foods Market scale label and contains milk, cultures, and salt.

The recalled product is identified by PLU code #254704 and includes items with sell-by dates up to and including January 20, 2015. The cheese was distributed in California, Arizona, and Hawaii.

Consumers who purchased this product should discard it or return it to the place of purchase. Listeria monocytogenes is a high-risk pathogen that can cause serious illness, particularly in vulnerable populations.

The recalled product

Product
Cheese sold under the brand name, Sheperdista Bleating Heart, Ingredients: Raw sheep milk, cultures, salt. Contains Milk: 080414. Sold with a Whole Foods Market scale label in clear plastic wrap. Variable weight item.
Manufacturer
Whole Foods Market
Hazard

Is your product affected?

Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.

Lot numbers (3)

  • PLU (product look up code) #254704
  • all sell by dates up to and including Jan 20st
  • 2015

Distribution

Distributed in 3 states:

Part of a larger recall action

This product is one of 6 recalled by Whole Foods Market under a single FDA (Food) recall action. The agency files each product separately, so the size of the action is not visible from this page alone.

See all 6 products in this recall →