They warn of the distribution of ripened cheese from France with the E. coli bacteria

2023-12-19 13:12:04

Updated Tuesday, December 19, 2023 – 12:12

The cheese has been distributed, for the moment, in fifteen countries, including Spain

Morbier ripened cheese DOP.AESAN

The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan) has activated an alert for the distribution of matured cheese made with raw milk from France infected with the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli bacteria.

France has reported through the European Food Alert Network (Rasff) that it is Morbier DOP cheese under the trademark Frieslandcampina Iberia and Milln Vicente in wedge containers of 175 and 195 grams.

According to the information consulted by EFEAGRO in Rasff, the cheese has been distributed, for the moment, in fifteen countries, including Spain.

This information has been transferred to the autonomous communities through Coordinated System for Rapid Information Exchange (Sciri) to verify the withdrawal of affected products from marketing channels.

The alert has been the result of self-control by the company itself, which has reported the incident to the competent authorities.

Aesan recommends that people who have the products included in this alert at home refrain from consuming them.

For its part, FrieslandCampina has assured in a statement that it received information about a case of possible presence of Escherichia coli bacteria in the DOP Morbier cheese, manufactured by the French company Entremont, which the commercial brand uses as raw material for some products it sells in the Spanish market.

FrieslandCampina has ordered its distributors and customers to preventively withdraw the affected lots, all those with best-before dates between December 8 and January 10, 2024, with the aim of guaranteeing consumer safety.

In addition, the establishments that sell these products are being “very proactive, informing the customer directly at the point of sale”, according to FrieslandCampina, which has insisted that the appropriate measures have been taken.

Infection by E. coli that produces shiga toxins generates symptoms of severe abdominal cramps, which can progress to severe gastroenteritis.