Headlines about a shredded cheese recall affecting more than a quarter of a million cases of various products have been making the rounds for the last few days, understandably alarming consumers.
Yet the recall itself is not new, despite only being widely publicized at this time. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s happened?
Back in early October, a company called Great Lakes Cheese Co of Hiram, Ohio, reportedly issued a large-scale recall that impacted a range of shredded cheese products.
The recall was initiated after Great Lakes Cheese was informed by one of its suppliers that some of its “Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella” may have been contaminated with a foreign material—in this case, metal fragments.
The consumption of metal fragments could obviously cause internal injuries to anyone eating the cheese products, posing a health risk.
In response to an inquiry from Fast Company, Great Lakes Cheese said that it immediately identified the affected “raw material” at its facilities back in October, and that it instructed retailers to remove any affected products from store shelves.
Yet despite this recall happening in October, the information wasn’t widely shared with the public at the time and is only now coming into sharp focus and garnering media attention.
That’s because of an enforcement report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which was published on the agency’s website this month.
What has the FDA said?
On December 2, the FDA published an enforcement report on the October 3 shredded cheese recall. In that report, the agency announced that it was classifying the voluntary recall as a Class II recall and listed the recall as “Ongoing.”
The FDA classifies recalls into three categories. Per the FDA:
- Class I: a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
- Class II: a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.
- Class III: a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences.
The FDA’s classification of the Great Lakes Cheese as a Class II means that while consumption of the recalled cheese is unlikely to have serious adverse health consequences, it can cause temporary injury or health consequences that are medically reversible.
The status of the recall as “ongoing” suggests that the recall is currently in progress. It’s not unusual for the FDA to issue a classification of a recall months after the recall took place.
What has Great Lakes Cheese Co said?
In the wake of the media attention sparked by the FDA’s enforcement report, Great Lakes Cheese publicly addressed the recall on Wednesday.
In a statement provided to Fast Company, the cheese producer confirmed that in early October, it had been notified by a supplier of possible foreign material contamination in some of its products. The company then said that it took immediate action.
“We instructed retailers to remove the products from store shelves after the announcement in October,” the company stated. “When we were confident all recalled products had been removed from store shelves, we distributed new product that did not have the potential to contain foreign material and was safe.”
Great Lakes Cheese says that “all recalled products have been removed from markets” and that any of its products currently on store shelves are not products associated with the October recall.
The company also addressed the “ongoing” status listed in the FDA’s December enforcement report: “While the status of the recall is marked as ongoing in the enforcement report, our records show all product has been fully removed from store shelves.”
What products are included in the recall?
The FDA’s enforcement report provides a list of impacted products. In total, there are 263,575 cases of cheese products included in the October recall.
As Taste of Home notes, those products have sell-by dates ranging from January to March 2026, meaning consumers could still have the items in their possession.
You can find a list of the exact recalled products on the FDA’s enforcement report. Brands on that list include:
- Always Save
- Borden
- Brookshire’s
- Cache Valley Creamery
- Chestnut Hill
- Coburn Farms
- Econo
- Food Club
- Food Lion
- Freedom’s Choice
- Gold Rush Creamery
- Good & Gather
- Great Lakes Cheese
- Great Value
- Happy Farms by Aldi
- H-E-B
- Hill Country Fare
- Know & Love
- Laura Lynn
- Lucerne Dairy Farms
- Nu Farm
- Publix
- Schnuck’s
- Simply Go
- Sprouts Farmers Market
- Stater Bros. Markets
- Sunnyside Farms
Where were the recalled products sold?
The recalled products were sold at stores in 31 states and Puerto Rico. Stores where the recalled products were sold include major retailers like Aldi, H-E-B, Target, and Walmart, as well as numerous grocery stores.
The states and territories the cheese products were sold in include: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NM, NV, NY, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, and Puerto Rico.
What should I do if I have the recalled products?
If you’ve bought any cheese products, you should check your refrigerator to see if the recalled products remain in your possession.
If you have them, you should not consume them.
“Any households with any of the affected items from October in their refrigerators or freezers should discard the product or return it to the store where it was purchased for a refund,” Great Lakes Cheese’s statement says.