Food alert on cheese product
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (August 28) appealed to retailers to stop selling a certain batch of Locatelli Ricotta Salata cheese suspected of being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Consumers are also advised not to eat the cheese.
The alert was made following an announcement by the Georgia Department of Agriculture in the United States , that Listeria monocytogenes were found in a sample of Ricotta Salata cheese collected as part of the department's food safety programme.
According to the US authorities, the contamination was found in a package marked "Sell by 01/21/08" with the brand name Locatelli. The cheese is imported from Italy .
Symptoms after exposure to Listeria monocytogenes may include fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea. Healthy individuals rarely develop symptoms. The effect on pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and people with lowered immunity, however, could be severe, which may include miscarriage and meningitis.
"We have contacted the Italian Consulate for more information. We have also alerted the trade and are closely monitoring the situation," a CFS spokesman said.
