A recall campaign concerning two types of raw milk cheeses from a Graindorge (Lactalis) brand cheese dairy and marketed by major retailers was launched on Tuesday 5 April, after the discovery of a cheese containing the bacteria responsible for the listeriosis, indicated the government site Rappel Conso.
The recall procedure is due to end on April 19. The identification number of the recalled batches is 250222LI9 and the health mark or stamp is FR 14.371.001 CE.
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These are Coulommiers and 1 kg Bries from the Normanville brand and the Graindorge brand. They have been marketed throughout France since mid-March in supermarkets of the Auchan, Leclerc, Casino, Carrefour, Intermarché, Cora, Système U brands, but also Schiever (very present in the North-East) and grocery stores “US Anti Waste”. Another coulommiers marketed by Franprix and bearing the same batch number is subject to a recall.
A rare but deadly food infection
Listeriosis, a foodborne infection, is rare – a few hundred cases per year in France – but once declared, it can be deadly: around a quarter of patients die. The incubation period can be up to eight weeks.
The government site recommends returning the products for reimbursement or destroying 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 particularly attentive to these symptoms, it is specified.
This campaign comes in the wake of a massive recall of frozen pizzas of the Buitoni brand, after several serious cases of contamination of children by the E.coli bacteria and deaths, possibly linked to the consumption of these products. Two weeks before Easter, several dozen cases of salmonellosis have also been detected in Europe and suspicions are turning to Kinder chocolate products made in Belgium and recalled by the manufacturer Ferrero.