Seven people in France have been infected with the same strain of Listeria after consuming organic dairy products, according to an article on www.foodsafetynews.com.
The article indicates the infections were linked to products made by La Ferme Durr including natural yogurt and yogurt with fruit, cream, cottage cheese and cheese, following analysis of food samples.
Raw milk cheeses are the suspected source of the contamination. As a result of seven people becoming ill with listeriosis, production at the French company was halted indefinitely and products were withdrawn from sale. This was reportedly the first time an incident like this had affected the company in their history.
The victims fell ill between February 2018 and August 2019 and were aged between 36 to 93 years old. Five of the seven are women.
“In terms of illnesses related to raw dairy products, this incident follows a Listeria outbreak linked to raw milk produced by Miller’s Organic Farm in Pennsylvania in 2014, which sickened two people and killed one of them,” said Dairysafe CEO Geoff Raven.
“Raw milk and products made from it can pose severe health risks because raw milk has not undergone pasteurisation which is critical for killing dangerous bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter.”