Cheese is one of the most popular dairy products in America—68% of US adults alone eat cheese every day. America loves cheese so much, we have caves full of the stuff. However, it may be good to lay off some kinds of cheese for the next couple of weeks.
Dozens of brands of cheese have been recalled by the FDA across 31 states, including Colorado. There are two distinct recalls: one involves shredded mozzarella and multi-cheese blends that may contain metal, while the other affects several brands of grated Pecorino Romano contaminated with listeria.
The recalled products were distributed to retail stores between November 3 and November 20, the FDA says. They also have expiration dates ranging from February to May 2026 and were being sold by major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Sprouts.
The recalled bags believed to be distributed in Colorado include the following brands:
- Low-moisture, part-skim shredded mozzarella: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire’s, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, Happy Farms by Aldi, H-E-B, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck’s, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets, and Sunnyside Farms
- Italian-style shredded cheese blend: Brookshire’s, Cache Valley Creamery, Coburn Farms, Great Value, Happy Farms by Aldi, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Publix, and Simply Go
- Shredded pizza-style cheese blend: Econo, Food Club, Great Value, Gold Rush Creamery, Laura Lynn, and Simply Go
- Mozzarella and provolone shredded cheese blend: Freedom’s Choice, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, and Great Value
- Mozzarella and Parmesan shredded cheese blend: Good & Gather
- Pecorino Romano grated cheese: Ambriola, Locatelli, Pinna, Boar’s Head, and Member’s Mark
The full list of products is on the FDA’s website.
“We take food safety very seriously and immediately alerted stores and distributors to remove the affected products from shelves,” Ambriola CEO Phil Marfuggi said in a statement. “We are working closely with the FDA and continuing to test our products and facilities to fully understand the situation.”
The shredded cheese was recalled by Ohio-based distributor Great Lakes Cheese on October 3 for metal contamination. Small bits of metal from a worn-out or broken shredder may be in the cheese and can cause cuts in the mouth or throat, chipped teeth, or abdominal pain and internal bleeding.
The Ambriola Company, a New Jersey cheese distributor, announced its recall on November 25 after some of its products tested positive for listeria during routine quality testing. Listeria is a bacterium that can grow in raw milk before it’s pasteurized, and it typically causes fever, achy muscles, upset stomach, and diarrhea.
The FDA issued its recall of these cheese products on December 1 despite no reported cases of consumers ingesting contaminated cheese. When the FDA is told about a voluntary food recall, it takes an average of 57 days to investigate the matter and determine if a public recall is needed. While the FDA was initially confident that Great Lakes Cheese had prevented the contaminated cheese from hitting shelves, it decided to issue a Class II recall for all products processed at that same facility “out of an abundance of caution.”
The difference between the original factory recall and this new public recall is over 1.5 million bags and containers of cheese. That’s somewhere between 5 million and 8 million pounds of cheese.
The FDA urges customers to either toss the cheese or return it to the store for a refund. Anyone who may have eaten the contaminated cheese should contact their doctor if they develop symptoms of a listeria infection, which usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food.
