Queso Herba, Queso Fresca Recalled for Possible Listeria

Azteca Linda Corp. of Brooklyn, New York is recalling its <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/listeria">Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) and Queso Hebra (Fresh White String Cheese), with an expiration date of September 11, 2010, over concerns that the cheese has the potential to be contaminated with the dangerous, sometimes deadly, Listeria monocytogenes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) was sold to two distributors in Providence, Rhode Island. Queso Hebra (Fresh White String Cheese) was distributed to retail stores in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, and to one distributor in Providence, Rhode Island.

Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) is packaged in a hard plastic (clam shell) container labeled with the brand name Queso El Azteca, UPC 0 23986 92692 8, and expiration date September 11, 2010. Queso Hebra (Fresh White String Cheese) is packaged in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag, Net Weight 14 oz. and Net Weight 5 lbs., and labeled with the brand Queso El Azteca (Queso Oaxaca), no UPC coding, and with expiration date September 11, 2010.
No illnesses have been reported, to date.

The recall was the result of sampling by the Rhode Island Department of Health, which revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) with expiration date September 11, 2010.

Consumers who have purchased Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) and Queso Hebra (Fresh White String Cheese) with expiration date September 11, 2010 are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Azteca Linda Corp. can be reached at 718-418-7459, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

This is not the first time in recent months that Azteca Linda has recalled a cheese product over concerns about Listeria contamination. In July, we wrote that the firm recalled its Queso Fresco (Fresh White Cheese) and Queso Hebra (Fresh White String Cheese) with an expiration date of July 7, 2010.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause Listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease. While healthy people rarely contract Listeriosis, the infection can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, and nausea; can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women; and can result in serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, persons with HIV infection, or those undergoing chemotherapy.

Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In pregnant women, Listeriosis can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth of a baby suffering from the infection.

Pregnant women are about 20 times likelier than others to be infected and Listeriosis can kill fetuses, prompt premature births, and can lead to hearing loss or brain damage in newborns and neurological effects and cardio respiratory failure in adults.