Retail Chain Recalls Reblochon de Savoie in Luxembourg over E. coli STEC Risk

In October 2025, a food manufacturer announced the recall of its Reblochon de Savoie—a French raw milk soft cheese with a washed rind, with Protected Designation of Origin—from its Luxembourg stores, after supplier controls detected possible presence of Escherichia coli producing Shiga toxin (STEC). The retailer recommended consumers who had purchased the product not to consume it and to return it to the point of sale, warning that STEC infection can cause severe gastrointestinal disorders, particularly serious in small children, elderly adults, and immunocompromised individuals.

Reblochon is a raw cow milk cheese, made without prior pasteurization as part of its traditional process protected by PDO, placing it in a different risk category from pasteurized milk cheeses: without the thermal step that eliminates the initial microbial load of milk, STEC and other pathogen control depends entirely on the hygiene quality of milking, the traceability of the source herd, and the aging process, not on a subsequent process barrier that could correct contamination already present in the raw material.

For TAAG, this recall illustrates the additional requirement facing raw milk cheese producers protected by designation of origin: unable to resort to pasteurization without losing the characteristic that defines the product and sustains its commercial value, microbiological monitoring of source milk and each aging batch becomes the only real control point available, requiring a significantly higher sampling frequency than an equivalent cheese made from pasteurized milk.