Sargento Foods Inc. has recalled a specialty cheese due to potential contamination of listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses have yet been reported.
The company reported Friday that its supplier, Deutsch Kase Hause LLC of Middlebury, Indiana, notified it that a Longhorn Colby cheese supplied to the national chain could be contaminated with the pathogenic bacteria, which is responsible for an estimated 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths in the United States each year.
The affected retail products include 6.84-ounce packages of Sargento ultra thin sliced Longhorn Colby cheese with "sell by" dates of April 12, 2017, and May 10, 2017; and eight-ounce packages of Sargento Chef Blends Shredded Nacho and Taco Cheese with "sell by" dates of June 14, 2017, and July 12, 2017. Both products were packaged at a Sargento facility in Plymouth, Wisconsin.
Other products being voluntarily recalled because "they were packaged on the same line as the affected cheese," according to a company spokesman, include:
12-ounce packages of Sargento Sliced Colby-Jack Cheese with "sell by" date of June 11, 2017;
12-ounce packages of Sargento Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese with "sell by" dates of June 12, 2017, July 9, 2017, and July 10, 2017;
8-ounce packages of Sargento Chef Blends Shredded Taco Cheese with "sell by" dates of June 14, 2017, June 28, 2017, and June 28, 2017;
8-ounce packages of Sargento Off-the-Block Shredded Fine Cut Colby-Jack Cheese with "sell by" date of July 5, 2017;
8-ounce packages of Sargento Off-the-Block Shredded Fine Cut Cheddar-Jack Cheese with "sell" by date of July 5, 2017.
No other Sargento branded products are affected by this recall.
Consumers may check if their product is affected by the recall by visiting info.sargento.com and using the "Product Check" tool. This webpage will be updated with the latest information about the recall.
