Class IITerminated · reported 2013-12-04

Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella String Cheese With Jalapeno Peppers, sold under Kraft…

Kraft Foods Group recalled this product and the FDA reported the enforcement action on 4 December 2013 as Class II. The recall was initiated by the firm. Some varieties of Kraft and Polly-O String Cheese and String Cheese Twist products may spoil before their "Best When Used By" code dates, leading to product discoloration. The affected products all have code dates from October 25, 2013 through February 11, 2014.

The record

Every field below is published by the FDA in the openFDA food enforcement database. Check the FDA notice before acting on any recall: this page is a reading of the public record, not a substitute for it.

Product: Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella String Cheese With Jalapeno Peppers, sold under Kraft brand or Polly-O brand and packaged with 12 pieces of mozzarella cheese with jalapeno peppers individually wrapped in plastic and sold in a plastic bag with a net weight of 10 oz. (283g).
Reason for recall: Some varieties of Kraft and Polly-O String Cheese and String Cheese Twist products may spoil before their "Best When Used By" code dates, leading to product discoloration. The affected products all have code dates from October 25, 2013 through February 11, 2014.
Recalling firm: Kraft Foods Group
Firm location: Northfield, Illinois, United States
Classification: Class II
Status: Terminated
Recall number: F-0404-2014
Quantity: 71,946 cases
Distribution: US: Nationwide (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY) + Guam + Puerto Rico
Initiated: 25 October 2013
Reported by FDA: 4 December 2013
Terminated: 29 October 2015
Firm notified by: Two or more of the following: Email, Fax, Letter, Press Release, Telephone, Visit
Product codes: All product with the "Best When Used By" dates between 25 OCT 2013 - 11 FEB 2014.

Reading this record

Five things about this record are not in the record itself, and each one changes how it should be read.

Class II means the FDA judged a remote probability of serious harm, or a probability of temporary or medically reversible harm. The class is assigned by an agency health hazard evaluation under 21 CFR 7.41, not by the firm.
The firm started this recall itself. Most FDA food recalls are voluntary, and a recall is a food safety plan working rather than failing. The circumstances in which the agency asks for one instead are set out in 21 CFR 7.45.
This is one of 8 records covering the same recall event. The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so a recall of a product line appears here many times. Counting these records as 8 separate recalls, which almost every published figure does, overstates it by a factor of 8. Every product code in this event is listed together on the record that covers the whole recall, which is the page a search engine is pointed to for all 8 of them.
The recall ran for 2.0 years, from 25 October 2013 to termination on 29 October 2015. Termination means the agency judged that all reasonable effort had been made, under 21 CFR 7.55, and it says nothing about whether product remained in circulation.
The distribution pattern names 44 states, and the FDA published the enforcement report 6 weeks after the firm began the recall.
Recalls of cheese run a median of 7 months, so this one was longer than usual for its category. Cheese dominates Listeria recalls among dairy products because soft and semi-soft varieties hold enough moisture for the organism to grow at refrigeration temperature, and because most are eaten without any further cooking step.

Named in the distribution pattern: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia. Those pages count recalls by where the RECALLING FIRM sits, which is a different question from where this product went.

What this recall was for

Spoilage and mould

A spoilage recall means the food degraded before its date: mould growth, unintended fermentation, swelling or rancidity, usually traced to a seal, a formulation or a storage temperature.

A preventive controls plan covers spoilage under the clauses below. This is where the control belongs, not a finding against any firm named on this page: a recall record states a reason, and most of these recalls were initiated by the firm itself.

21 CFR 117.93: Warehousing and distribution: storage and transport under conditions that protect food against contamination and against deterioration of the food and its container.
21 CFR 117.80(b)(3): Time and temperature: holding food at temperatures that do not allow microorganisms to grow, and for no longer than the process allows.

Filed under cheese. A product can sit in more than one.

Other cheese recalls for the same reason

These are the closest records in the corpus: the same kind of food, recalled for a hazard this record also names. Unlike the firm’s own records below, they come from different companies, which is what makes them a pattern rather than a history.

Reported	Product	Firm	Reason	Class
2024-09-11	Item 71117.02123, Reser's American Classics Macaroni & Cheese, refrigerated product, net wt. 12oz. There are 6 packs per case.	Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.	Product may become spoiled due to temperature abuse. The temperature abuse was the result of a malfunctioning refrigeration unit on trailer #184.	Class II
2024-09-11	Item 71117.02009, Reser's American Classics Macaroni & Cheese White Cheddar, refrigerated product, net wt. 12oz. There are 6 packs per case.	Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.	Product may become spoiled due to temperature abuse. The temperature abuse was the result of a malfunctioning refrigeration unit on trailer #184.	Class II
2024-02-14	GRANDE SOPRAFFINA RICOTTA 1/30# SUPC/ITEM # 19536	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II
2024-02-14	AURICCHIO IMP SHARP PROV CHEESE 1/17# SUPC/ITEM # 197110	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II
2024-02-14	PRESIDENT GOAT CHEESE 3/1KG SUPC/ITEM # 6159	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II
2024-02-14	SOPRA RICOTTA AMALFI 4/5# SUPC/ITEM # 193650	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II
2024-02-14	GRANDE RICOTTA SOPRAFFINA GRANDE 1/3# SUPC/ITEM # 195351	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II
2024-02-14	SOPRA RICOTTA AMALFI 1/5# SUPC/ITEM # 193650P	Greco Sidari	The food was not held at an appropriate temperature. The holding temperature could affect spoilage and potentially support pathogen growth.	Class II

Other records from Kraft Foods Group

The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so several of these are frequently one recall event. 19 other records name this firm.

Reported	Product	Firm	Reason	Class
2014-07-30	Low fat cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, sold under the Breakstone's brand, Daily Chef brand, Knudsen brand, or Kraft brand packaged in a tray of 4 plastic containers each with a net weight of 4 oz. (113 g), a tray of 8 plastic containers each with a net weight of 4 oz. (113 g), a plastic container with a net weight of 8 oz. (227 g), a plastic container with a net weight of 16 oz. (1 lb.) 453 g, a plastic container with a net weight of 24 oz. (1.5 lb.) 680 g, a plastic container with a net weight of 32 oz. (2 lb.) 907 g, or a 3 lb. plastic container with a net weight of 48 oz. (3 lb.) 1.36 kg.	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage cheese, 4% milkfat, sold under the Daily Chef, Knudsen, or Kraft brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 8 oz. (227 g), a plastic container with a net weight of 16 oz. (1 lb.) 453 g, a plastic container with a net weight of 24 oz. (1.5 lb.) 680 g, a plastic container with a new weight of 32 oz. (2 lb.) 907 g, or a plastic container with a net weight of 5 lb. (2.27 kg).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Low fat cottage cheese, 1.5% milkfat, with pineapple sold under the Knudsen brand packaged in plastic containers with a net weight of 16 oz. (1 lb.) 453 g.	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with pineapple topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with raspberry topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with blueberry topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with pineapple sold under the Breakstone's brand or Knudsen brand and packaged in a tray of 4 plastic containers each with a net weight of 4 oz. (113 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with mango topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with peach topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II
2014-07-30	Cottage Doubles - cottage cheese, 2% milkfat, with strawberry topping sold under the Knudsen brand and packaged in a plastic container with a net weight of 3.9 oz. (110 g).	Kraft Foods Group	Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling 18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, nine SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, five SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and two SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese produced at our Tulare, CA manufacturing facility. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions t	Class II

All 20 records for Kraft Foods Group

All 2013 recalls · All FDA food recall data

21 CFR 117.93 is the clause behind this recall, and it is one somebody has to produce evidence for at their next audit. Krolda maps supplier documents to the clause they satisfy in FSSC 22000, IFS Food and 21 CFR 117, and routes the corrective action when the evidence is missing.

Early access

Recall records come from the openFDA food enforcement API, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the public domain. Krolda adds the hazard classification and the clause mapping; neither is an FDA determination. Always check the FDA notice before acting on a recall.