Urgent cheese recall as shoppers warned over packets containing metal

More than 260,000 bags of cheese have been recalled. (Image: Getty)

An urgent food recall has been issued in the US after more than 260,000 cases of shredded cheese were found to potentially contain metal fragments. The products were sold at some of America’s biggest retailers, including Aldi, Target and Walmart. The warning comes from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which confirmed the details in an official report. The cheeses were made by Great Lakes Cheese Co., based in Hiram, Ohio, and were distributed across 31 states and Puerto Rico.

The company launched a voluntary recall in early October. On Monday, the FDA reclassified the incident as a “Class 2” recall. This means the affected products may cause temporary or medically reversible health problems, but the chance of serious harm is considered low.

The Great Lakes recall covers a wide range of shredded cheese products (Image: Getty)

The alert was issued shortly after New Jersey-based distributor Ambriola Company also recalled some cheese products last week, following routine testing that confirmed the presence of Listeria - which can be deadly.

That recall is separate from the issue involving metal fragments.

The Great Lakes recall covers a wide range of shredded cheese products, including Italian-style blends, pizza blends, mozzarella, mozzarella and provolone, and mozzarella and parmesan.  Some have sell-by dates in February and March 2026.

A low-moisture part-skim mozzarella shredded cheese represents the biggest portion of the recall, with 235,789 cases affected.

The products were sold at some of America’s biggest retailers (Image: Getty)

Dozens of well-known brands are included in the recall. They include: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire’s, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese and Happy Farms by Aldi.

H-E-B, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck’s, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets and Sunnyside Farms are also affected.

The FDA listed the following breakdown of products:

• 235,789 cases of low-moisture part-skim mozzarella shredded cheese. Affected brands include: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire’s, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, Happy Farms by Aldi, H-E-B, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck’s, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets and Sunnyside Farms.
• 15,490 cases of Italian-style shredded cheese blend. Affected brands: Brookshire’s, Cache Valley Creamery, Coburn Farms, Great Value, Happy Farms by Aldi, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Publix and Simply Go.
• 4,298 cases of pizza-style shredded cheese blend. Affected brands: Econo, Food Club Pizza Style Two Cheese Blend, Gold Rush Creamery Pizza Blend, Great Value Pizza Blend, Laura Lynn Pizza Blend and Simply Go Pizza Blend.
• 4,131 cases of mozzarella and provolone shredded cheese. Affected brands: Freedom’s Choice, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese and Great Value.
• 1,900 cases of Happy Farms by Aldi Italian-style shredded cheese blend
• 1,850 cases of Good & Gather mozzarella and parmesan shredded cheese blend
• 117 cases of Food Club finely shredded pizza-style four-cheese blend

Cheese sold in the following states may be affected: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Great Lakes Cheese Co. has not yet commented publicly on the recall.