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.
The agency’s classification
FDA (Food): Class I
Class I is a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
This is the agency’s own classification, taken from its notice. The severity score below is our assessment, not the agency’s. How recall classes work
What this means for you
Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 4/5 (Severe).
The hazard poses a serious risk of illness, injury, or structural failure. Stop using the product immediately and contact the manufacturer for a refund or repair.
Our severity reasoning: The agency classified this recall as Class I — a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. On that classification alone this is scored Severe; a score of Critical is reserved for recalls where a death or serious injury was reported. The agency gives the reason as: "Product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes."
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
- Category
- Food — Cheese
- 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
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.
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