Listeria Bacteria Found at Closed Cheese Plant
Preliminary test results show listeria bacteria contamination in the drains and elsewhere on the premises of Rodeo Industries Inc.’s Mexican-style cheese plant in the City of Industry, leading health officials to extend the plant closure indefinitely and continue a four-state product recall.
At a Los Angeles press conference Thursday, Dr. Kenneth Kizer, director of the state Department of Health Services, said he had been given a preliminary indication by state Department of Food and Agriculture investigators that “widespread” contamination was found at the plant.
All indications point to post-pasteurization contamination as the cause of the latest listeriosis outbreak that involved three Tucson residents who ate the company’s Queso Fresco brand of cheese, officials said. The three have recovered.
No Problem Found in Milk
State inspectors have determined that the milk used in manufacturing Rodeo Industries’ cheeses was not contaminated. Now, they are centering their efforts on testing the plant’s environment, including workers and air circulating in the manufacturing areas, said Jan Wessell, a spokeswoman for the agriculture department. The results of those tests may be in today.
State health authorities Wednesday ordered a temporary halt to the company’s production of its nine varieties of soft, white cheese until results from a new battery of tests can be studied. The order includes two cheeses marketed under the Jimenez label.
A recall of all the company’s cheese products was ordered in California, Arizona, Texas and Oregon, a spokesman for the federal Food and Drug Administration said.
The Los Angeles County recall was scheduled to be completed today, said Toby Milligan, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Health. More than 2,500 retail outlets were checked all day Thursday and into the night. Inspectors found the cheese in about 75 stores.
Company Cooperates
Officials of Rodeo Industries released a short statement Thursday night, noting that they are cooperating with the state investigation.
“The governmental agencies have, to date, conducted extensive investigations of Rodeo’s plant and its products,” said general manager David Lopez. “The CDFA’s conclusion: Rodeo’s plant ‘is clean, well-managed and following good pasteurization and sanitation practices.’ Both the FDA and the CDFA have told Rodeo that it is the cleanest plant they have inspected.”
Lopez and Pedro Soriano, the firm’s president, refused to answer any questions.
The last major listeriosis poisoning episode occurred last year, causing 40 deaths in California and resulting in the closing of Jalisco Mexican Products of Artesia. Officials, who are still trying to pinpoint the cause of that outbreak, believe that it was caused by unpasteurized milk getting into the cheese.
The state agriculture department first learned of a possible link between the Arizona illnesses and the Southland cheese firm on Feb. 25, but took until Wednesday to join with the state health department in ordering the plant closed, said Wessell of the agriculture department.
“It takes a long time to isolate the bacteria and definitively pinpoint where it came from,” Wessell said.
Recall a Precaution
In fact, Kizer said, state officials have not even finished most of their tests on the Rodeo cheeses but ordered them recalled as a precaution.
“We had to act on presumptive evidence rather than conclusive evidence,” Kizer said.
Wessell said tests completed so far show that Rodeo Industries has been following correct sanitation and pasteurization procedures.
On Monday, before the cheese recall, the state Franchise Tax Board suspended Rodeo Industries, thereby rescinding the organization’s corporate protection. With the suspension, Rodeo Industries’ owners could be held individually liable in any civil or criminal actions. Tax officials said the reasons for the suspension are confidential.
The Rodeo cheeses recalled are Queso Fresco, Queso Panela, Queso Enchilado, Queso Jalapeno, Requeson, Manchego, Adobera; also, Jimenez Queso Fresco and Jimenez Queso Adobera.
Times staff writer Pat Brennan contributed to this article.
