Listeria Cheese

Queso Fresco cheese imported illegally from Mexico and sold in a Latino grocery store in Woodburn, Oregon may be tainted with Listeria, Oregon state officials warned Friday.

Oregon’s Health Authority and Department of Agriculture launched an investigation into the dairy product after an infant in Clackamas County fell ill from the bacteria.  Officials traced the infection to batch of queso fresco, a soft white cheese manufactured in Mexico.

Officials believe the cheese was brought into the country illegally because it was found unlabeled and sold in plastic bags, the spokesman said.

Norovirus Oysters

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters harvested from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014.

Oysters harvested from Copano Bay, Texas, on Dec. 26, 2013, and then shipped by Alby’s Seafood of Fulton, Texas, have been linked to six norovirus illnesses in Louisiana.

The Texas Department of State Health Services closed Copano Bay to shellfish harvesting on Jan. 9, 2014.

The FDA is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked shellfish from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014.

Alby’s Seafood disclaimer icon has issued a recall of the oysters harvested on Dec. 26; however, other shellfish harvested from Copano Bay before it was closed may still be in the marketplace.

All shellfish dealers, restaurants, retail food establishments and consumers are advised to check the identity tags on all containers of shellfish in their inventories. If the tag indicates the shellfish were harvested from Copano Bay between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014 the product should be disposed of and should not be sold, served or eaten.

Listeria Ham

Gusto Packing, a Montgomery, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 67,113 pounds of sliced, spiral ham products due to concerns about possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The hams were shipped to wholesalers for further distribution in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, while some were exported to Canada. The following products are subject to recall:

45.5-lb. cases, with six individual sized hams each labeled “Centrella Signature, Hardwood Hickory Smoked, Spiral Sliced Ham with Natural Juices” with the case code “71292603304,” packaged on Nov. 29, 2013, having a Use or Freeze by date of “02/06/14.”

45.8-lb. cases, with six individual sized hams each labeled “AMISH VALLEY, Fully Cooked, Hickory Smoked Spiral Sliced Ham” with the case code “71292645104,” packaged on Nov. 29, 2013, having a Use or Freeze by date of “02/06/14.”

45.8-lb. cases, with six individual sized hams each labeled “AMISH VALLEY, Fully Cooked, Hickory Smoked Spiral Sliced Ham” with the case code “71292645104,” packaged on Nov. 30, 2013, having a Use or Freeze by date of “02/06/14.”

31.6-lb. cases, with four individual sized hams each labeled “Ripple Creek Farms, Fully Cooked, Ready To Eat, Hickory Smoked, Spiral Sliced Ham” with the case code “71292603312,” packaged on Nov. 30, 2013, having a Best Before date of “2014 FE 13.”