Whole Foods joins cheese recall

Whole Foods Market Inc. joined a cheese recall Friday, pulling seven types of cheddar cheese over the risk of listeria or E. coli.

The cheeses — Sage Cheddar, Silver Mountain Cheddar, Chipotle Cheddar, Premium Block Cheddar, Premium White Chunk Cheddar, Chipotle Chunk Cheddar and White Black Wax Cheddar — were sold in its stores in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona.

Packaged in clear plastic wrap bearing a sticker that reads “Distributed by Whole Foods Market,” the cheeses are part of a factorywide recall announced by Bravo Farms of California.

Last week the artisan cheese maker, which specializes in cheese made from raw milk, pulled all of its shipments after state health officials found listeria at its plant in Traver, Calif. At the beginning of this month, Bravo Farms recalled its Dutch Style Gouda in a multistate outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7.

The gouda was part of a traveling cheese roadshow sold in about 50 Costco warehouse stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Another cheese in the roadshow — Mauri Gorgonzola which was distributed by DPI Specialty Foods in Tualatin — was also recalled after Colorado health officials found E. coli in a sample. The bacteria can be fatal or cause severe symptoms.

Since mid-October, 38 people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico have been sickened in the E. coli outbreak linked to the gouda. The outbreak includes 15 hospitalizations and one case of kidney failure. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the gorgonzola.