France Recalls Farmhouse Munster Cheese in the Grand Est Region Due to Listeria Detection

The official RappelConso portal published on October 9, 2026 the voluntary recall of a farmhouse Munster cheese, made on a farm, due to the detection of Listeria monocytogenes. Sales were limited to the Grand Est region, in the northeast of the country, through several points of sale that the notice lists in an annex, and the product is kept refrigerated. The recall is voluntary, with no prefectoral order. The notice asks consumers not to eat or use the cheese and to return it to the point of sale for a refund.

Munster is a washed-rind, soft-paste cheese, ripened at high humidity, a combination that favors Listeria monocytogenes if there is contamination in the milk or the ripening room: the bacterium tolerates salt, cold and moderate pH, and grows on the rind. In this recall the notice lists the points of sale in an annex and limits the scope to one region, which makes it possible to narrow the product tracing.

Listeriosis can be serious: the notice recommends consulting a doctor for fever, with or without headache and muscle pain, and reporting any consumption, and notes that incubation can last up to eight weeks. Pregnant women, immunocompromised people and older adults should be especially alert, because infection can cause neurological complications and maternal or fetal harm.

For cheesemakers, the finding is a reminder that controlling the rind and the turning and washing utensils is as important as controlling the milk. TAAG's Specio 1.4 kit detects Listeria monocytogenes by real-time PCR with melting curve, with food and surfaces among its matrices and the dairy industry among its applications. The link is indirect: washed-rind cheese is not specifically named among the matrices, and the notice does not describe any analysis done with the kit.