Bay Shore Distributor's Cheese Recalled Over Listeria Risk at Dozens of LI Stores

A Bay Shore food distributor has issued a recall of one-pound Requeson cheese packages due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, with federal health officials warning the soft cheese may have been distributed to as many as 28 Long Island retailers, 19 of them in Suffolk County.

Nelson & Isa Lacteos LLC, headquartered in Bay Shore, shipped the cheese to New York stores between May 15 and May 28 in clear plastic clamshell packaging. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the product bore no brand name and was in all likelihood repacked by individual retailers, which means the labeling consumers may encounter could vary from store to store.

The recall was set off when New York State inspectors found Listeria in a sealed 18-pound container of Requeson cheese sourced from Clover Hill Dairy, a Maryland company that manufactured the product. That container had a June 14 sell-by date.

Federal health officials have linked the cheese to a multistate Listeria outbreak. As of an FDA update dated June 24, 12 people had become ill across New York, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois; 10 required hospitalization and one person died.

Suffolk County locations on the FDA's distribution list span multiple stores in Brentwood, Central Islip, Copiague, Mastic, Bay Shore, Riverhead, Hampton Bays and Southold. Nassau County stores in Freeport, Long Beach, Hempstead, Uniondale and South Farmingdale are also named.

The FDA noted the list may not be exhaustive and that some stores on it may not have actually received the recalled product.

Listeria infection can produce symptoms including fever, stiff neck, severe headache, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The FDA said the illness can be deadly in young children, elderly individuals and those with compromised immune systems, and may lead to miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women.

Anyone who bought the cheese is urged not to consume it and to bring it back to the store where it was purchased for a complete refund. Consumers with questions may call Nelson & Isa Lacteos at 631-334-1055, available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.