Cheese products recalled in Quebec
August 30, 2008
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Paola Loriggio
STAFF REPORTER
As if sandwich meat was not enough, consumers now have to watch out for cheese, after the beloved dairy product was linked to deadly bacteria in Quebec, and possibly in Toronto.
One person died and 87 people have fallen ill from salmonella bacteria tied to three brands of cheese in Quebec, provincial health authorities announced yesterday. They recalled three cheeses – La Chaudière, Polo and Tradition – that might contain the bug.
Health officials noticed a spike in the disease in recent weeks, concentrated in three regions of the province: Chaudière-Appalaches, Estrie-Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec.
Earlier this week, officials had recalled two types of cheese after store samples tested positive for listeria. But the cheeses, Riopelle de l'Île and Mont-Jacob, have nothing to do with the contaminated meat recalled by Maple Leaf Foods, they say, and it's just a coincidence the two strains surfaced at the same time.
Meanwhile, Toronto Public Health is testing samples from a cheese shop in Kensington Market after a regular customer suffered from listeriosis.
As part of their standard investigation, health officials asked the customer what she had eaten in the months before she became sick. They found she ate a lot of cheese from Cheese Magic, an independent cheesemonger.
Inspectors looked over the store and collected samples to determine whether the cheese is contaminated, said Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate medical doctor of health with Toronto Public Health.
The customer, who was pregnant at the time, has also been tested in connection with the outbreak, and Dubey said she expects results in the next week.
The woman gave birth early as a result of the disease, which she transmitted to her child. Both have been treated.
Toronto Star
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