Listeria in cheese recall for gorgonzola cheese from penny market

Bacteria found in cheese of the Italian manufacturer IGOR s.r.l.
Rewe Group's food discount store "Penny" is now recalling two varieties of Gorgonzola cheese. The background is the detection of Listeria in samples of the products of an Italian manufacturer, the company reports. These can lead to a health-threatening infection in immunocompromised persons such as pregnant women, elderly or seriously ill people.

All best before dates and lot numbers affected
Penny Markt GmbH has started a call for blue cheese. As the discounter announces, two product samples of the Italian manufacturer IGOR s.r.l. Listeria has been found. Accordingly, IGOR s.r.l. reacted promptly and the goods "for reasons of preventive consumer protection" taken out of commerce.

Recall for Listeria. Image: Andrey Starostin - fotolia

The products concerned are the two different types of Gorgonzola cheese "San Fabio Gorgonzola DOP Dolce 200g" and "San Fabio Gorgonzola DOP Piccante 200g". The recall would include all the best before dates and batch numbers in Germany. Identifiable are the articles marked on the EAN code (bar code) 23685390 (DOLCE) and 22138569 (PICCANTE).
Already purchased goods can be returned in the markets, on the other hand, the food of the cheese should be avoided. "Due to possible health risks, IGOR s.r.l. urgently from the consumption of the product ", the message of the discounter.

Listeria occur everywhere in the environment
Listeria is a bacterium that, in principle, exists throughout our environment and can be found in all raw foods. Particularly affected are meat, poultry, fish, seafood and raw milk products, but even with heated products such as scalded sausage can be a subsequent contamination. For healthy people, the pathogens are usually no danger, so that infection (listeriosis) is usually harmless and causes flu-like symptoms such as fever, body aches or diarrhea.

Danger to life for unborn children
However, people with weakened immune systems (such as diabetics, cancer patients, the elderly), infants and newborns can become seriously ill. In these cases, listeriosis can cause meningitis (meningitis) or septicemia (sepsis). "In pregnant women, usually no or only harmless flu symptoms appear, however, the infection may pass to the fetus and lead to a miscarriage, stillbirth or a life-threatening neonatal listeriosis," report the health authorities. (No)