Edam 12 pound wheels, Six pound half wheels, and wedges of various sizes ranging from…

Grassfields Cheese, LLC recalled this product and the FDA reported the enforcement action on 5 October 2016 as Class I. The recall was initiated by the firm. contamination with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), a bacteria that can cause serious illness in humans. E.coli infection symptoms vary by individual, but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. If there is fever, it usually is not very high (less than 101¿F/less than 38.5¿C). Most people get better within 57 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening. Around 510% of those diagnosed with Shiga-toxin producing E.coli infections develop a potentially life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Signs that a person is developing HUS include decreased frequency of urination, feeling very tired, and losing pink color in cheeks and inside the lower eyelids. Persons with HUS should be hospitalized because their kidneys may stop working and they may develop other serious problems. Most persons with HUS recover within a few weeks, but some suffer permanent damage or die.

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

Edam 12 pound wheels, Six pound half wheels, and wedges of various sizes ranging from less than 12 pounds to 1/3 pound. Wheels and half wheels are sold packaged in cheese paper and wedges are sold packaged in clear plastic cryovac. Refrigerated, Organic raw milk cheese.

Reason for recall

contamination with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), a bacteria that can cause serious illness in humans. E.coli infection symptoms vary by individual, but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. If there is fever, it usually is not very high (less than 101¿F/less than 38.5¿C). Most people get better within 57 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening. Around 510% of those diagnosed with Shiga-toxin producing E.coli infections develop a potentially life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Signs that a person is developing HUS include decreased frequency of urination, feeling very tired, and losing pink color in cheeks and inside the lower eyelids. Persons with HUS should be hospitalized because their kidneys may stop working and they may develop other serious problems. Most persons with HUS recover within a few weeks, but some suffer permanent damage or die.

Recalling firm

Grassfields Cheese, LLC

Firm location

Coopersville, Michigan, United States

Classification

Class I

Status

Terminated

Recall number

F-2465-2016

Quantity

2250 lbs

Distribution

MI, GA, IL, IN, CT, NY, CO, WA, TN, OH

Initiated

3 August 2016

Reported by FDA

5 October 2016

Terminated

17 November 2016

Firm notified by

Press Release

Product codes

All product on market. Any manuafcturing date prior to 8.1.16; date printed immediately below the cheese variety name represents the manufacturing date

Reading this record

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

• Class I means the FDA judged a reasonable probability that the product would cause serious health consequences or death. 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 10 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 10 separate recalls, which almost every published figure does, overstates it by a factor of 10. 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 10 of them.
• The recall ran for 3 months, from 3 August 2016 to termination on 17 November 2016. 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 10 states, and the FDA published the enforcement report 2 months after the firm began the recall.
• Recalls of cheese run a median of 7 months, so this one was shorter 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: Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Connecticut, New York, Colorado, Washington, Tennessee, Ohio. 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

Filed under cheese and milk and dairy. 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.

Other records from Grassfields Cheese, LLC

The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so several of these are frequently one recall event. 9 other records name this firm.

All 10 records for Grassfields Cheese, LLC

All 2016 recalls · All FDA food recall data