Faced with the risk of contamination with the Listeria bacterium, the Ferme du Castérieu is withdrawing from sale and recalling cheeses sold in 6 departments of the South-West.
Health alert. In a statement dated Friday, August 9, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food warns of a possible risk of contamination with listeria bacteria.
The latter concerns Castérieu brand cheeses, sold between 1er May and August 9 by the Ferme du Castérieu on direct sale, as well as in stores located in 6 departments: Charent-Maritime, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Gironde, Pyrénées Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées.
Faced with the possible risk of listeriosis, the Ferme du Castérieu had to withdraw from sale and recall all its “pasteurized cow’s milk”, “cow-sheep mixture” and “sheep” cheeses.
The stores that sold the products concerned “have put up posters at the shelf level to inform consumers”, explains the press release.
A call for consumer vigilance
For the moment, “four people with listeriosis, infected by the same source of Listeria, have been identified”, specify the health authorities, who call for the vigilance of consumers.
They invite people who have purchased the Castérieu brand cheeses concerned not to consume them and to return them to the point of sale where they come from.
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium found in particular in water, soil, wastewater, but also human and animal faeces, as well as in plants. It develops on poorly preserved foods. What makes it particularly dangerous is its resistance to cold: it survives without difficulty in freezers and proliferates in refrigerators.
This bacterium can cause listeriosis, an infection with an incubation period of up to 8 weeks and can be potentially serious if complicated by sepsis or brain infection. Responsible for 200 deaths in 2012 in Europe, listeriosis is particularly at risk for people over 70, babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. They must therefore be “particularly attentive to the symptoms”, specifies the press release.
“People who have consumed (Castérieu cheeses, editor’s note) and who have a fever, isolated or accompanied by headaches, and body aches are invited to consult their doctor, notifying him of this consumption”, continues the press release.
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