A Salmonella outbreak linked to non-dairy cheese made from cashews has ended after sickening 17 people in three states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Three people were hospitalized. The maker of the cheese, Cultured Kitchen of West Sacramento, issued a recall for the cheese on December 31.
Most of the illnesses occurred during November 2013. The last reported date of onset of illness was January 3, the same day the outbreak was announced by the CDC. Fifteen of the illnesses were in California. Nevada and Wyoming each reported one case.
Case patients ranged in age from 2 years to 83 years old. The median age was 27. Fifty-three percent of case patients were male.
Public health investigators used pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) testing to obtain a DNA “fingerprint” of the outbreak strain. The tests determined that the outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley is rare and only been seen 20 times prior to this outbreak.
The CDC cautions consumers who have purchased cashew cheese, to check their refrigerators to make sure they do not have the recalled product which has a long shelf life. The recalled cheese were sold in eight-ounce plastic containers in the following flavors: herb, smoked cheddar, pepper jack, habanero cilantro lime, basil pesto and white cheddar. Click the link above, for more details about the recall.
