Golden Glen Creamery of Bow, WA is voluntarily recalling Raw Cheddar because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
To date, no illnesses have been reported.
Approximately twenty (20) pounds of the Raw Cheddar was distributed through a very few, select retail stores in Washington State, as well as at Golden Glen’s on-farm store between September 22 and November 5 of this year. The packages range in size from ¼ to ½ pound pieces, and are random-weight cuts.
The product is vacuum packaged in clear plastic with a stick on label. The label reads in part: “Raw Cheddar,” “GOLDEN GLEN CREAMERY”and“Natural handcrafted cheese produced by the Jensen ladies.” The back of the product has a white sticker with the three-digit code “864.”
The Raw Cheddar is being voluntarily recalled by Golden Glen Creamery, and was a result of a surveillance sample collected and analyzed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture that was found to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The company has ceased the production and distribution of the product as FDA, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the company continues their investigation as to what caused the problem.