A sample of Raw Milk Monterey Jack Cheese was taken by an inspector from the Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services on August 9 and the positive test results were confirmed on August 17 by the New York State Food Laboratory.
The New York State Department of Agriculture has urged consumers in Cayuga County, New York, not to consume three Hillcrest Dairy cheese products: Old Fashioned Raw Milk Monterey Jack, Horseradish Monterey Jack, and Chipotle Adobo Monterey Jack, produced at Ripley Dairy of Moravia, New York.
The product is contained in a plastic shrink-wrapped, assorted ounce net weight package, displaying the plant number 36-3108 with a manufacturing date of May 17, 2017.
“We want to assure you that this incident was isolated to a raw milk product. All of our pasteurized products have tested safe and are free of listeria,” Hillcrest Dairy spokesperson, Shari Ripley, said in a statement.
“The majority of the cheese was contained at our facility and that, as well as all recalled cheese has since been destroyed.”
“Stricter testing policies have been put in place to insure all cheese leaving our facility has been thoroughly tested to provide you the safest product possible,” Ripley added.
To date, no illnesses associated with the products have been reported to the New York Department of Agriculture. Consuming a Listeria contaminated product could cause Listeriosis, a disease characterized by mild flu-like symptoms and more serious health concerns for immune-comprised individuals such as meningitis and blood poisoning.