A national recall campaign concerning six cheeses from a Graindorge brand cheese dairy (Lactalis group) and marketed by major retailers was launched on Tuesday, after the discovery of a cheese containing the bacterium responsible for listeriosis, according to the government site Rappel Conso.
This campaign concerns “a few hundred cheeses”, according to Bruno Lefèvre, the director of the Fromagerie de Livarot (Calvados) which produced them and which belongs to Graindorge. These are Coulommiers and 1 kg Bries from the Normanville brand and the Graindorge brand.
The whole of France concerned
The recalled cheeses may contain Listeria monocytogenes (causative agent of listeriosis). This food infection is rare (a few hundred cases in France), but once declared, it is particularly deadly: about a quarter of patients die. The incubation period can be up to eight weeks.
The cheeses concerned have been marketed throughout France since mid-March in the supermarkets of the Auchan, Leclerc, Casino, Carrefour, Intermarché, Cora, Système U brands, but also Schiever and the “NOUS Anti Gaspi” grocery stores. Another coulommiers marketed by Franprix and bearing the same batch number is subject to a recall under the same conditions.
A check revealed “a very low presence of Listeria monocytogenes on a single cheese”, specified the director of the cheese factory. The precautionary principle nevertheless applies to all the batches made from the milk in question. The identification number of the recalled batches is 250222LI9 and the health mark is FR 14.371.001 CE.
Fever and headache
It is recommended to return the products for reimbursement or to destroy them. People who have consumed the products and have a fever, isolated or accompanied by headaches, and body aches are invited to consult their doctor.
Pregnant women, immunocompromised people and the elderly should be especially alert to these symptoms. The recall procedure is due to end on April 19.