The Recall Desk
Agency classClass IOur severity:CriticalFDA (Food)·H-0528-2025·Announced 2025-09-03

Grass-fed pepper jack cheese recalled over potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination

Middlefield Original Cheese Co-op and Copia Collective 100% Grass-Fed Pepper Jack Cheese, lot 251661, is recalled for potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The FDA classified the action as Class I.

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 5/5 (Critical).

Highest-severity recall. The hazard can cause serious injury or death. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.

Our severity reasoning: The rubric assigns 5 to any FDA Class I recall, and the FDA classified this Listeria monocytogenes action as Class I.

Plain-English summary

Middlefield Original Cheese Co-op 100% Grass-Fed Pepper Jack Cheese in 8 oz individual units, 5 lb loaves and 40 lb loaves, and Copia Collective 100% Grass-Fed Pepper Jack Cheese in 8 oz individual units, all packaged in plastic, are being recalled. The affected product carries lot code 251661, with 40 lb blocks marked JUL 16 2025 VAT A. The recall covers 216.5 pounds of the Middlefield product and 30 pounds of the Copia Collective product, 246.5 pounds in total, distributed in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The recall was issued because of potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA classified the action as Class I, the category the agency uses when there is a reasonable probability that exposure will cause serious health consequences or death.

Anyone holding cheese matching this lot code should not eat it and should follow the recalling firm's instructions for return or disposal. Because Listeria infection can take weeks to produce symptoms, people who have eaten the product and feel unwell should tell their doctor what they ate.

The recalled product

Product
1) Middlefield Original Cheese Co-op 100% Grass-Fed Pepper Jack Cheese, 8 oz. individual units, 5 lb. loaves, and 40 lb. loaves, packaged in plastic with lot code 251661 2) Copia Collective 100% Grass-Fed Pepper Jack Cheese, 8 oz. individual units, packaged in plastic with lot…
Manufacturer
Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative
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 (1)

  • Lot Code: 251661 JUL 16 2025 VAT A (on 40 lb. blocks)

Distribution

Distributed in 3 states:

Part of a larger recall action

This product is one of 4 recalled by Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative 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 4 products in this recall →

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