In a way, yes. I work in the cheese industry, and there's only a handful of manufacturers making things; a lot of times the only thing that differs is the packaging. Especially when it comes to something simple like shredded mozzarella cheese, the store brands are all the same product with different packaging.
great question and actually important info missing from this article.
i tried to use their feedback form to ask them to update the article and it just yells at me that i can’t use inappropriate words… when there are no inappropriate words in my message. gg ap news
This is pretty surprising as almost every food factory that I know of (a lot) has metal detectors just prior to final boxing (called "case packing" in the industry).
Then you'll be happy to know that - for the most part - the vast majority of food manufacturers are trying to provide a quality product at the price point they're targeting. Meaning... You get what you pay for.
It's extremely rare to find an absolutely nasty factory out there. They do exist, but the norm is perfectly fine.
I have to concede that my experience is entirely a way-too-small sampling of the entire industry, so it's entirely possible you are right here. However, in my experience, the factories that I've been to (granted, not ALL of them) have been incredibly clean and well-maintained and follow very strict guidelines for making sure their product is safe. Obviously, the consequences of delivering a product that is not safe are quite dire (noting the Boar's Head example and the recent ByHeart recall).
On that note, I never visited the Boar's Head facility, but one of our customer service reps did and they said it was downright nasty. No wonder they got infected.
By the way, listeria contamination is probably the WORST thing that happen to a food-producing factory. This bacteria is incredibly dangerous and very, very hard to get rid of once detected. I've known factories that decided to relocate rather than try to deal with an outbreak.
Yes the conservatives are clearly just scapegoats and didn't earn the reputation as the default reason for a bad thing happening by spending decades ruining literally fucking everything
I'm not saying that would never happen, because I'm sure it has. However, most places would have a spare metal detector unit just in case this type of thing happened.
What is probably more likely is that the factory did not have a very frequent test cycle for their metal detector. Which means, the metal detector could have been broken for a long time and nobody noticed it. Given enough time, something is going to happen and the product could have become contaminated with metal shavings.
Eating large machines made from stainless steel and plastic would be challenging and probably not all that flavorful. But the food that goes through them? Absolutely
Yeah. If some piece of junk accidentally makes it into the shredder machine, it's probably going to get shredded along with the cheese.
How does that happen, you ask? If a box on the line catches a piece of a machine, it could break it off. Or if something comes in boxes and gets dumped right in, if the packer put their box cutter down in the wrong spot, it's getting packed in, and will be shredded with the cheese.
This stuff happens all the time, because shit happens. Most of the time it gets caught.
I wonder if this is the same exact cheese recall from a couple months ago. I remember seeing half the cheese section at my walmart gone with recall tags. They were back in like 3 days.
41 Comments
nulluser@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 274d
Such as?
And the rest are?
BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 274d
I think this is the report: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/?Event=97827
Seems like it's only shredded, part-skim mozzarella.
crank0271@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 274d
It looks like more than that, according to this article (which, hey, has some actually useful information. Thanks for nothing, AP.)
Recalled shredded cheese products:
Always Save Shredded
Borden Shredded Thick Cut
Brookshire’s Finely Shredded Shredded Thick Cut Italian 6-Cheese – Finely Shredded
Cache Valley Creamery Shredded Six Cheese Italian – Finely Shredded
Chestnut Hill Fancy Shredded
Coburn Farms Shredded Italian Style – Finely Shredded
Econo Shredded Pizza- Shredded
Food Club Finely Shredded Shredded Finely Shredded Pizza Style Four Cheese Blend Pizza Style Two Cheese Blend- Finely Shredded
Food Lion Shredded
Freedom’s Choice Pizza Blend – Fine-Cut
Gold Rush Creamery Shredded
Good & Gather Fine Cut Classic Mozzarella & Provolone – Classic Mozzarella & Parmesan shredded cheese blend
Great Lakes Cheese Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone – Shredded
Great Value Finely Shredded Shredded Italian Style – Finely Shredded Provolone & Mozzarella Blend – Shredded
Happy Farms by Aldi Shredded Italian-style shredded cheese blend
H-E-B Shredded Thick
Hill Country Fare Shredded
Know & Love Fine Cut Classic Cut Italian Style – Fine Cut
Laura Lynn Finely Shredded Shredded Thick Cut Shredded Italian Blend – Finely Shredded
Lucerne Dairy Farms Finely Shredded Shredded Shredded Family Size Rustic Cut Rustic Cut Family Size
Nu Farm Fancy Shredded
Publix Shredded Italian Six Cheese Blend – Fancy Shredded
Schnuck’s Shredded
Simply Go Classic Cut Shredded Rustic Cut Shredded Italian Style Six Cheese Blend – Fine Cut Shredded
Sprouts Farmers Market Finely Shredded Shredded Value Pack
Stater Bros. Markets Finely Shredded Shredded
Sunnyside Farms Shredded
Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 274d
So alll of those cheese brands, are really just Great Lakes Cheese Co.
Carbonizer@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 273d
In a way, yes. I work in the cheese industry, and there's only a handful of manufacturers making things; a lot of times the only thing that differs is the packaging. Especially when it comes to something simple like shredded mozzarella cheese, the store brands are all the same product with different packaging.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 274d
Most of those are store brands, so yes.
higgsboson@piefed.social · 3 pts · 274d
👑
NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 273d
Thanks for posting the list.
TLDR: it is the cheap garbage cheese
Any list with good and gather tells you something right there. Looking through the rest... yeah.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · -3 pts · 273d
Lazy fucks. How hard is it to shred cheese.
Vupware@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 273d
Some people work hard to keep afloat and want to minimize the work they do once they get home.
What are your thoughts about pre-minced garlic/jarlic?
pieland@piefed.social · 17 pts · 274d
great question and actually important info missing from this article.
i tried to use their feedback form to ask them to update the article and it just yells at me that i can’t use inappropriate words… when there are no inappropriate words in my message. gg ap news
jollyrogue@lemmy.ml · 26 pts · 274d
Oh, wow. The FDA still exists.
celeste@kbin.earth · 12 pts · 274d
https://parade.com/food/cheese-recall-aldi-target-walmart-december2025 This article's a little more extensive. It's weird apnews didn't link to the fda report that briantheebiscuiteer linked to, since that has the actual actionable info people would need.
wooffersyt@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 273d
Skanky@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 274d
This is pretty surprising as almost every food factory that I know of (a lot) has metal detectors just prior to final boxing (called "case packing" in the industry).
AMA for any food production related questions
jollyrogue@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 274d
… I don’t want to know. I want to like food.
Skanky@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 274d
Then you'll be happy to know that - for the most part - the vast majority of food manufacturers are trying to provide a quality product at the price point they're targeting. Meaning... You get what you pay for.
It's extremely rare to find an absolutely nasty factory out there. They do exist, but the norm is perfectly fine.
Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 273d
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/boars-head-plans-to-reopen-troubled-deli-meat-plant-but-reports-of-sanitation-problems-persist
I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I just can't seem to believe that most food factories are "perfectly fine".
Especially right now in the US with our way of letting the food industry basically regulate itself.
Skanky@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 272d
I have to concede that my experience is entirely a way-too-small sampling of the entire industry, so it's entirely possible you are right here. However, in my experience, the factories that I've been to (granted, not ALL of them) have been incredibly clean and well-maintained and follow very strict guidelines for making sure their product is safe. Obviously, the consequences of delivering a product that is not safe are quite dire (noting the Boar's Head example and the recent ByHeart recall).
On that note, I never visited the Boar's Head facility, but one of our customer service reps did and they said it was downright nasty. No wonder they got infected.
By the way, listeria contamination is probably the WORST thing that happen to a food-producing factory. This bacteria is incredibly dangerous and very, very hard to get rid of once detected. I've known factories that decided to relocate rather than try to deal with an outbreak.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world · -8 pts · 274d
Yes yes yes. But how can we blame someone? Preferably a conservative someone?!
bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 273d
Yes the conservatives are clearly just scapegoats and didn't earn the reputation as the default reason for a bad thing happening by spending decades ruining literally fucking everything
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 273d
Until the detectors break and management just says keep going until that part shows up.
Skanky@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
I'm not saying that would never happen, because I'm sure it has. However, most places would have a spare metal detector unit just in case this type of thing happened.
What is probably more likely is that the factory did not have a very frequent test cycle for their metal detector. Which means, the metal detector could have been broken for a long time and nobody noticed it. Given enough time, something is going to happen and the product could have become contaminated with metal shavings.
REDACTED@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 273d
Would you eat the things you make?
Skanky@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 273d
Eating large machines made from stainless steel and plastic would be challenging and probably not all that flavorful. But the food that goes through them? Absolutely
bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 273d
What a great article about a public health concern that gives literally no information about how to identify said cheeses
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 274d
https://www.today.com/food/recall/shredded-cheese-recall-december-2025-rcna247037
Also a better article. Geez AP did you go all AI already?
danc4498@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 274d
Run a magnet through your cheese before you eat it.
ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 274d
That only helps to find ferrous metals.
Most food production equipment is stainless, and not very magnetic if at all.
krashmo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
Fine, I'll give it the tongue test and aggressively mash each bite into the roof of my mouth before I swallow it.
ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 274d
Or, pass a metal detector over it.
Or return it for refund....
krashmo@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
Nah, I'm hungry right now
frongt@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 274d
Stainless is ferrous, but not magnetic.
deacon@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
I never stopped.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 274d
So I'm guessing some of the processing equipment broke or was breaking resulting in contamination. Because the web page does not like my phone.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 274d
Yeah. If some piece of junk accidentally makes it into the shredder machine, it's probably going to get shredded along with the cheese.
How does that happen, you ask? If a box on the line catches a piece of a machine, it could break it off. Or if something comes in boxes and gets dumped right in, if the packer put their box cutter down in the wrong spot, it's getting packed in, and will be shredded with the cheese.
This stuff happens all the time, because shit happens. Most of the time it gets caught.
klugerama@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 273d
I can't believe nobody realizes this is Trump's doing. He wants to Make America Grate Again.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 273d
Now with added iron!
pieland@piefed.social · 1 pts · 273d
mlem
Breezy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
I wonder if this is the same exact cheese recall from a couple months ago. I remember seeing half the cheese section at my walmart gone with recall tags. They were back in like 3 days.
Gates9@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 274d
FDA/USDA is a goddamn fucking joke. They consider themselves “industry partners”.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 273d
Regulatory capture is a helluva drug