Personal Injury Law

Listeria Problem That Put Peregrina Cheese In Federal Court Brings Recall Of All Products Since Last St. Pat's Day

By Marler Clark

We previously reported on Brooklyn's Peregrina Cheese Inc. and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York entering into a 16-page Consent Degree with many requirements---including the recall of all food products the company has distributed since March 17, 2009.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) today posted the company's press release with more details about the recall.  In part, it said:

The recall action involves the following products produced since March 17, 2009:

• Peregrina Cheese brand QUESO FRESCO Fresh Cheese, 14 Oz. (397 g) foil-wrapped package, Plant # 36-8431, UPC 8 17424 00024 6, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Chipilo brand MEXICAN CHEESE QUESO FRESCO – Fresh Cheese, NET WT. 15 oz. (425g), Plant #36-8431, UPC 8 17424 00028 4, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Peregrina Cheese brand QUESO HEBRA Queso Oaxaca, NET WT. 15 Oz. (425g), Plant #36-8431, UPC 8 17424 00026 0, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Peregrina Cheese brand QUESO COTIJA MOLIDO, NET WT. 15 OZ. plastic bags, Plant # 36-1388, UPC 8 17424 00027 7, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Peregrina Cheese brand Flan, NET WT 8 oz., Plant # 36-8431, UPC 8 17424 00026 0, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Peregrina Cheese brand GELATIN, NET WT. 10 OZ., Plant # 36-8431, UPC 8 17424 00031 4, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.
• Peregrina Cheese brand CREMA MEXICANA Mexican Cream, Weight 16 Oz., Plant # 55-8991, UPC 8 17424 00030 7, all lot codes on the market produced since March 17, 2009.

The products were distributed to retail stores in New York and Pennsylvania.  No illnesses have yet been associated with the recalled cheeses.  The concern is they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections usually in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The Consent Degree was filed in late July with the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York.
U.S. District Attorney Benton J. Campbell, representing FDA, had asked the federal court to shut down the Peregrina Cheese factory at 342 Ten Eyck Street in Brooklyn for problems with listeria contamination and inspections failures. The federal government also sought to bar Javier and Isabel Peregrina from the food business as individuals. 

Full post as published by Listeria Blog on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).