A listeria outbreak linked to cheese has killed two in France and infected at least 21 others, the French Agriculture Ministry said this week, with Belgium also reporting an outbreak.
The contamination is believed to be linked to cheese from the Chavegrand factory, located in Creuse, in central France.
On Tuesday, all cheese produced there before 23 June and distributed until 9 August was recalled from French supermarkets, according to the French Agriculture Ministry.
Listeria typically causes symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever, but it can be potentially life-threatening, particularly for vulnerable groups.
The affected batches, sold under various brands in France and abroad, include products such as camembert, brie, gorgonzola and goat cheese, mainly from the brands Le Berger, Le Lion un fromage royal, Saveur d’antan and Le Petit Grignoteur, Le Monde reported.
“Anyone in possession of these products is asked not to consume them”, said the French ministry.
A first product recall by Chavegrand due to the detection of listeria had already taken place on 12 June, the ministry told reporters on Wednesday. But subsequent checks found no contamination in the month following the alert, allowing production to continue.
Belgium’s food safety authorities confirmed on Wednesday that one person had been infected with the same strain of bacteria responsible for deaths in France but cautioned that such contamination isn’t unusual.
“Bacteria are part of our environment and can therefore end up in our food”, Hélène Bonte of the Belgian Federal Food Safety Agency (FAVV) told the Flemish media VRT News, adding that food companies regularly carry out checks to keep risk as low as possible.
Bonte explained that this is not the first listeria infection in Belgium this year – citing 62 cases – but only the first linked to French cheeses. The affected batches were sold at Colruyt, Okay and Comarkt supermarkets and are now being removed from the shelves.
(msa, jp)
Dining and Cooking