|More Than a Million Bags of Cheese Were Recalled. Here’s What That Means.
A recall involving more than one million bags of cheese may sound dramatic, but it’s hardly unusual in the U.S. food system, where hundreds of products are under various levels of recall at any time.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration elevated a cheese recall that it had first announced in October. Consumers were warned that there could be metal fragments in several Great Lakes Cheese products that could cause temporary health effects. The notice did not say how the issue was spotted or if anyone who had eaten the cheese reported any health issues.
Food recalls are more common than you think. Joining cheese on the list of products currently under F.D.A. recall notices are beef bowls, vanilla ice cream, Ritz crackers, whiskey pecans and dessert buns. From 2014 to 2024, more than 83,000 regulated products were subject to recalls.
Not all recalls are created equal. Some warn of minor or temporary risks to consumers, while others signal a more serious threat. Here’s how they work:
What causes a recall?
---------------------
Food recalls happen when something about a product raises enough of a red flag that it needs to be pulled from the market.
Under F.D.A. rules, that could mean contamination by bacteria or viruses; the discovery of a foreign object like broken glass, metal or plastic; or a labeling mistake, such as failing to mention the presence of peanuts or shellfish.
A recall can be announced by the manufacturer itself or be requested, and in some cases mandated, by the F.D.A. Great Lakes Cheese Co., the maker of the shredded cheese now under scrutiny, voluntarily announced its recall in October. (The company did not respond to a request for comment.)
|More Than a Million Bags of Cheese Were Recalled. Here’s What That Means.
A recall involving more than one million bags of cheese may sound dramatic, but it’s hardly unusual in the U.S. food system, where hundreds of products are under various levels of recall at any time.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration [elevated a cheese recall](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/?Event=97827) that it had first announced in October. Consumers were warned that there could be metal fragments in several Great Lakes Cheese products that could cause temporary health effects. The notice did not say how the issue was spotted or if anyone who had eaten the cheese reported any health issues.
Food recalls are more common than you think. Joining cheese on the list of products currently under F.D.A. recall notices are beef bowls, vanilla ice cream, Ritz crackers, whiskey pecans and dessert buns. From 2014 to 2024, more than 83,000 regulated [products were subject to recalls](https://datadashboard.fda.gov/ora/cd/recalls.htm).
Not all recalls are created equal. Some warn of minor or temporary risks to consumers, while others signal a more serious threat. Here’s how they work:
What causes a recall?
---------------------
Food recalls happen when something about a product raises enough of a red flag that it needs to be pulled from the market.
Under F.D.A. rules, that could mean contamination by bacteria or viruses; the discovery of a foreign object like broken glass, metal or plastic; or a labeling mistake, such as failing to mention the presence of peanuts or shellfish.
A recall can be announced by the manufacturer itself or be requested, and in some cases mandated, by the F.D.A. Great Lakes Cheese Co., the maker of the shredded cheese now under scrutiny, voluntarily announced its recall in October. (The company did not respond to a request for comment.)