AFSCA Recalls Gorgonzola Due to Listeria Risk Sold at Retail Stores

The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) of Belgium ordered on March 25, 2026 the recall of gorgonzola cheese sold in stores between January 30 and March 23, both in loose format —sold by the piece— and pre-packaged, due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The authority asked consumers to return the product to the point of sale for refund and warned that pregnant women, older adults, small children, and immunocompromised individuals are at greatest risk.

That the recall covers both loose and pre-packaged formats is relevant from a control perspective: it means contamination is not limited to a specific packaging lot at origin, but may have been present in the complete cheese piece from which portions were cut loose at the point of sale itself. Gorgonzola is a soft-paste blue cheese with Penicillium mold veins that develop in humid environments similar to those favoring Listeria monocytogenes survival, a combination requiring particularly strict microbiological control during maturation and cutting.

For TAAG, a recall covering both loose cut in store and packaging at origin confirms that Listeria monocytogenes control in blue and soft-paste cheeses must extend beyond the manufacturing plant, to the point of sale itself where cheese is handled and cut in front of consumers, a supply chain link that often falls outside monitoring programs focused only on the factory.