Costco-Bravo Farms Gouda Cheese Outbreak Victims Represented by Pritzker Olsen Attorneys
Our firm, one of only a few in the world that specializes in foodborne illness cases, is representing many of the victims from the Costco - Bravo Farms Gouda cheese outbreak that was first announced in November.
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The Gouda cheese produced by Bravo Farms and sold at Costco retail locations in five western states was apparently made from raw milk. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized. Federal regulations require that such cheese be aged for sixty days or more.
Doug Powell, a respected food scientist and journalist, posted a reference to an article just published in the Journal of Food Protection that concludes, “In agreement with results of previous studies, our results suggest that the 60-day aging requirement alone is insufficient to completely eliminate levels of viable E. coli O157:H7 in Gouda or stirred-curd Cheddar cheese manufactured from raw milk contaminated with low levels of this pathogen.” The full abstract of the article is reprinted below.
Not long after Bravo Farms announced the E. coli O157:H7 recall, testing at the plant revealed the presence of another deadly pathogen, Listeria. On November 26, Bravo Farms recalled all of its cheeses.
Thus, it appears the problem is not limited to the dangers inherent in the 60 day curing rule – Bravo Farms appears to have a much more fundamental problem with sanitation. But all of this does point to yet another example of the dangers with raw milk. It also raises all sorts of alarms about Costco’s due diligence and its failure to assure the quality of the products it sells. The concern is all the greater since Costco offered free samples of Bravo Farms gouda cheese.
Article Published in the Journal of Food Protection
Behavior of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the Manufacture and Aging of Gouda and Stirred-Curd Cheddar Cheeses Manufactured from Raw Milk
Authors: D'Amico, Dennis J.1; Druart, Marc J.2; Donnelly, Catherine W.2
Source: Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 73, Number 12, December 2010 , pp. 2217-2224(8)
Publisher: International Association for Food Protection
Abstract:
This study was conducted to examine the fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the manufacture and aging of Gouda and stirred-curd Cheddar cheeses made from raw milk. Cheeses were manufactured from unpasteurized milk experimentally contaminated with one of three strains of E. coli O157:H7 at an approximate population level of 20 CFU/ml. Samples of milk, whey, curd, and cheese were collected for enumeration of bacteria throughout the manufacturing and aging process. Overall, bacterial counts in both cheese types increased almost 10-fold from initial inoculation levels in milk to approximately 145 CFU/g found in cheeses on day 1. From this point, counts dropped significantly over 60 days to mean levels of 25 and 5 CFU/g in Cheddar and Gouda, respectively. Levels of E. coli O157:H7 fell and stayed below 5 CFU/g after an average of 94 and 108 days in Gouda and Cheddar, respectively, yet remained detectable after selective enrichment for more than 270 days in both cheese types. Changes in pathogen levels observed throughout manufacture and aging did not significantly differ by cheese type. In agreement with results of previous studies, our results suggest that the 60-day aging requirement alone is insufficient to completely eliminate levels of viable E. coli O157:H7 in Gouda or stirred-curd Cheddar cheese manufactured from raw milk contaminated with low levels of this pathogen.
Publication date: 2010-12-01
