Health officials are warning Floridians to check their refrigerators amid a California-based Rizo-López Foods listeria outbreak that has sickened one person in the state.
The company is voluntarily recalling several of its dairy products because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and those with weakened immune systems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a notice Tuesday.
The recalled products — which were sold in stores nationwide — include cheese, yogurt, and sour cream sold under the brand names Tio Francisco, Don Francisco, Rizo Bros, Rio Grande, Food City, El Huache, La Ordena, San Carlos, Campesino, Santa Maria, Dos Ranchitos, Casa Cardenas, and 365 Whole Foods Market, according to officials.
A spokesperson with Whole Foods told Patch the 365 products were sent to stores nationwide.
Products were also sold at retail deli counters including, but not limited to, El Super, Cardenas Market, Northgate Gonzalez, Superior Groceries, El Rancho, Vallarta, Food City, La Michoacana and Numero Uno Markets, officials said.
As of Tuesday, eight people were reported sick in California, four each in Colorado and Arizona, two each in Texas and Tennessee, and one each in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC investigated this outbreak in 2017 and 2021, with epidemiological evidence in previous investigations identifying queso fresco and other similar cheeses as a potential source of the outbreak. However, at the time, there was not enough information to identify a specific brand.
Officials reopened the investigation in January after new illnesses were reported in December and the outbreak strain was found in a cheese sample from Rizo-López Foods, according to officials.
Epidemiology and recent laboratory data show that queso fresco and cotija made by Rizo-López Foods are making people in this outbreak sick, officials said.
The FDA inspected the Rizo-López Foods facility and found the outbreak strain of Listeria on a container where cheeses are kept before they are packaged, according to officials.
As of Feb. 6, a total of 26 people in 11 states have been infected with this outbreak strain of Listeria between June 15, 2014, and Dec. 10, 2023, officials said.
Of 26 people reported sick, 23 have been hospitalized and two deaths have been reported, one from California and one from Texas, according to officials.
Healthy people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, officials said. The infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported as not all people who become sick are tested, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, officials noted.
Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers for any of the products listed here and throw them away, according to the FDA.