Health Law

Florida Takes 3 Weeks To Recall Cheese With E coli

By Marler Clark LLP

The states and even the federal government generally use the "voluntary recall" method when they discover contaminated food is making its way to consumers.   That system is being tested in Florida  where the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has stepped in to recall Santa Rosa Cheese, Naturally Aged White Cheese.  The cheese may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

Dr. John Fruin, chief of the Bureau of Food and Meat Inspection for the department, admitted to the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper that the state has known of the bad cheese since Dec. 26.

Dr. Fruin told the newspaper that:  "the reason we did not put the press release out right away was because the firm was going to put out the press release and contact their buyers,” In the weeks that followed, however, “We didn’t feel the firm did an adequate job of notifying the public.”

It was sample testing performed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services revealed the presence of generic E.coli bacteria – not the more dangerous E.coli O157: H7 strain - in samples of the cheese collected from the manufacturer’s Miami warehouse

Dr. Fruin said three samples contained 760 particles, 2,100 particles and more than 49,000 particles of the bacteria per gram. He said Tallahassee area grocers may not carry Santa Rosa Cheese because it’s primarily sold in markets with larger Hispanic communities.

“We don’t expect to see any E. coli in a pasteurized cheese product,” Fruin said. “Our limit is 10 (particles per gram) so when we get more than 10, we will put that product on a stop sale and try to take it out of the marketplace."

The affected codes for Naturally Aged White Cheese are 565 and 589, various package sizes.  Retailers who have purchased this product are urged to return it to the manufacturer - Santa Rosa Cheese, 4795 N.W. 72nd  Avenue,  Miami, FL  33166. Consumers who have purchased the product should return it to the store from which they bought it. 

Question: Would you ever again buy cheese from a manufacturer who was dragging its feet when a product was found dangerous enough to require a recall?  That's Santa Rosa Cheese.

And, finally, three weeks seems like an awfully long time for state health officials to wait before informing the public.l

Full post as published by e.Coli Blog on January 16, 2008 (boomark / email).