Alert in Spain over the sale of French cheeses with listeriosis

Cheeses manufactured by the French company Chavegrand , which are suspected of causing a listeriosis outbreak in that country with two deaths, were exported to around thirty countries , including Spain.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported this Wednesday that, based on available data, these cheeses were sold in 14 European Union (EU) countries . These include Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, Finland, Austria, Estonia, and the Czech Republic.

Outside the EU , the suspect cheeses were also marketed in Madagascar, French Polynesia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, the United Kingdom, Cambodia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mauritius, New Caledonia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Australia and the United States.

This has led France to launch a series of notifications through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which specifies that the listeria outbreak in France has affected 21 people. The Department of Agriculture has acknowledged that the list of countries may need to be expanded .

French health authorities announced on Tuesday that they had identified the listeriosis outbreak and identified the Chavegrand company, which has its production facility in the town of Lascoux, in the Creuse department (central France), and which produces various brands sold in supermarkets such as Leclerc, Lidl, U, Aldi, and Carrefour. On August 9, the company sent a message to its customers in France and abroad requesting a recall of a long list of batches of cheese made from pasteurized cow's or goat's milk, totaling a quarantine.

The French government has asked people who have cheese from these batches not to consume it and, if they have eaten it, to be alert for possible symptoms that may appear up to eight weeks later, such as fever and headaches or muscle aches, in which case they should consult a doctor.

In France, listeriosis (caused by a bacterium) is the second leading cause of death from food poisoning after salmonella, with several dozen deaths each year.