Homestead Creamery Artisan Cheese Removed from Store Shelves

January 14, 2013

The State Milk Board, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, announced today that Homestead Creamery of Jamesport, Mo. is voluntarily withdrawing a batch of its Flory’s Favorite cheese from the marketplace.

Preliminary test results received from the Missouri State Health Laboratory indicate the cheese may be contaminated with Shiga-Toxin producing E.coli, which can lead to food borne illness. Confirmatory tests are ongoing.

The Homestead Creamery plant license to sell milk products in Missouri has been temporarily suspended, pending the results of the investigation by the State Milk Board and Missouri departments of Agriculture and Health and Senior Services.

The withdrawn product, Flory’s Favorite, is a 60-day aged cheese made with raw milk. Packages of the cheese are marked with “Packed On 210” on the label. This affects approximately 250 pounds of cheese and does not affect any other dairy products from Homestead Creamery.

The withdrawn cheese was sold at Homestead Creamery facility in Jamesport, Mo. and may have been sold by the following retailers:

HyVee in Liberty, Mo.
HyVee in Trenton, Mo.
Benedict Builders’ Farm in Knob Noster, Mo.
Milton Creamery in Milton, Iowa.

The Missouri State Milk Board continues to review the company’s records to determine when consumers may have purchased the product. Anyone who has purchased the cheese may return the unused portion to the store from which they purchased the product.

Copies of Missouri’s regulations for milk products, including cheese, are available online at mda.mo.gov/animals/milk.

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