The national Listeria cheese recall by Wisconsin-based Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company applies not only to Whole Foods Markets and many other retailers nationwide, but also seven restaurants located in Milwaukee, Madison, Sun Prairie and Bayfield, Wisconsin. The complete list of restaurants in the state where Crave Brothers is served covers Bacchus, Lake Park Bistro, and Rumpus Room of Milwaukee; Merchant and Pizza Brutta of Madison; Beans ‘n Cream Coffee House in Sun Prairie and Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield.
Crave Brothers is located in Waterloo, Wisconsin, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an inspection of the company’s processing facility as part of a fast-paced joint food poisoning investigation by health agencies in Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Washington (FDA) and Atlanta (CDC). Listeria lawyer Fred Pritzker and his Bad Bug Law Team also are in the midst of probing the outbreak. The Pritzker firm has settled several multi-million dollar Listeria claims and currently represents a client seriously stricken by contaminated cheese as part of an important cheese listeria lawsuit.
In the Crave Brothers outbreak, one person has died and four others have been hospitalized. Authorities have tied the outbreak to Les Frères, Petit Frère, or Petit Frère with Truffles cheeses made by Crave Brothers. Listeria can grow in cheese at low temperatures and officials are concerned that more people could become seriously ill from product stored in home or restaurant refrigerators.
Consumers who develop a fever after eating Crave Brothers cheeses should seek medical care immediately and tell the health care provider about eating a cheese that likely caused an outbreak of listeriosis. People sometimes develop listeriosis up to 2 months after eating contaminated food, but symptoms can start within several days. Crave Brothers distributes its cheese nationwide through Whole Foods markets, Kroger and many other retailers. Restaurants in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin also serve the cheese.
