Cheese Recall Update as FDA Sets Risk Level

Thick slices of cheese on a wooden cutting board. The FDA classified a previous cheese recall from Tillamook over the possible presence of a "foreign plastic material" as Class II.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified a cheese recall from Tillamook County Creamery Association earlier this month as Class II, which means that the consumption of the affected products could cause adverse health consequences.

The Oregon-based company initiated a voluntary recall of over a thousands cases of its sliced Tillamook Colby Jack and Tillamook Monterey Jack cheeses at the end of May over the possible presence of "foreign plastic material," but the FDA hadn't identified the level of risk associated with the consumption of the products until now.

On Tuesday, the agency classified the food recall as Class II, which indicates a relatively risky product that can cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences." A Class II is also given "where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote," according to the FDA.

The agency classifies food recalls in three ways. A Class III recall is given when exposure to an affected food product or its consumption is unlikely to cause an adverse health consequence. A Class I is the most severe type of food recall and it's issued when the consumption or exposure to a product can cause "serious adverse health consequences or death."

Newsweek contacted Tillamook for comment by email early on Wednesday.

Tillamook County Creamery Association warned Costco customers on May 30 that some of its products sold in the warehouse club—specifically, 1,149 cases of 32-ounce "twin pack" packages of Tillamook Colby Jack and Tillamook Monterey Jack cheese slices (item number 651195)—might have been contaminated with plastic.

A piece of plastic material was detected by the company in a 40-pound cheese block, and smaller fragments of the plastic material are feared to potentially have made it into the cheese slices.

"Tillamook has identified a very small quantity of gray and black plastic pieces that may be present in a limited quantity of Monterey Jack Cheese that is included in [the packages], with a 'Best If Used By' date of October 22, 2024, produced only for Costco locations in the Northwest region," a letter sent from Tillamook Executive Vice President Mike Bever to Costco shoppers earlier this month reads.

Bever urged customers who purchased the products between May 9 and May 31 to return them to their local Costco for a full refund and to "please refrain from consuming" them.

The risk from consuming the product, as confirmed by the FDA, is low. "If you have already consumed the product without issue, you do not need to take any action, as the likely presence of the foreign plastic material is very minimal," the letter from Bever said.

The recall terminated on June 25.

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial