The Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall for popular products sold at Aldi and Walmart locations nationwide after finding they may be contaminated with metal fragments.
According to the FDA, several cheeses sold under various brands including Walmart’s Great Value brand, Aldi’s brands and Happy Farms are included in the recall, citing potential metal fragments in raw materials as the cause.
The manufacturing company, Great Lakes Cheese Co Inc., intimated a voluntary recall Oct. 3. The recall was recently updated by the FDA on Dec. 1, and classified as a Level II risk.
A Level II recall is “a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences.”
Read more: Full list of 260K+ cases of recalled cheeses: Brands, products and retailers
Affected products were distributed in across 31 states and regions: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The FDA has not issued guidelines for consumers to follow after the recall.
In total, 263,575 cases of cheese are being recalled, the bulk of which are low-moisture part-skim mozzarella shredded cheese.
The recall covers several product types, including:
Low-moisture part-skim mozzarella shredded cheese: 235,789 casesItalian style shredded cheese blend: 15,490 casesPizza style shredded cheese blend: 4,298 casesMozzarella and provolone shredded cheese blend: 4,131 casesGood & Gather Mozzarella & Parmesan shredded cheese blend, Fine Cut: 1,850 casesHappy Farms by Aldi Italian Style shredded cheese blend: 1,900 casesFood Club Finely Shredded Pizza Style Four Cheese Blend: 117 cases
A full list of affected products and brands included in the recall can be found here.
Dining and Cooking