Cream Cheese Recall 2024 | Here's a List of Affected Products

Key Takeaways

• Certain cream cheese spreads were recalled due to possible salmonella contamination.

• Happy Farms and Hy-Vee brand cream cheese spreads (see list in article for details).

• Salmonella can cause diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and in severe cases, lead to more serious complications.

• Check your fridge for recalled products and discard them immediately. If you consumed these products and experience concerning symptoms, see a doctor.

Cream Cheese Recall 2024 Issued

Some of the most delicious foods around can include cream cheese - cheesecake, your morning bagel, creamy pasta. We could go on, but we don't want to make you hungry.

If you have cream cheese in your fridge right now, you might want to double check the brand as a recall has just been issued. This cream cheese recall 2024 comes not long after a cheese recall in April was announced due to a possible listeria contamination.

The recent recall has been issued for certain cream cheese spreads that have potentially been contaminated with salmonella.

While the brands and type of contamination may be different, any cheese recall can be enough to cause concern for your health and the health of your family.

How Do You Get Salmonella?

You've likely heard of salmonella before whether it be a warning label on a raw cookie dough container or undercooked chicken, but what exactly is it?

According to the Mayo Clinic, salmonella infection or salmonellosis "is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract." This bacteria usually lives in animal or human intensines and sheds through feces.

However, humans are typically infected through food or water that has been contaminated.

The most common foods that are affected by salmonella are:

• Raw meat, such as chicken or seafood

• Raw or undercooked eggs

• Unpasteurized dairy products, such as raw milk

• Fruits and vegetables that have been infected through contaminated water

However, food and water aren't the only ways you can contract salmonella.

Here are some other ways:

• Putting your fingers in your mouth after touching a contaminated surface, such as a cutting board after cutting raw chicken

• Not washing your hands after using the bathroom or changing a diaper, then touching food

• Contract through infected pets or animals

Dangers of Salmonella

Even though salmonella is rarely life-threatening, certain populations, such as infants, elderly, pregnant women, and immune compromised, can be at a higher risk of complications.

Some of the symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea and vomitting, which an lead to dehydration.

In more serious, yet rare cases, salmonella can enter the bloodstream, resulting in bacteremia. In this case, bacteremia can infect tissues throughout your body and can cause a urinary tract infection, meningitis, endocarditis, or osteomyelitis.

Lastly, anyone infected with salmonella are at a greater risk of developing reactive arthritis, or Reiter's syndrome. Symptoms include eye irritation, and pain in the joints or while urinating.

Symptoms of Salmonella

The incubation period, or the time between when you're exposed to when you feel the symptoms, can be anywhere from 6 hours to 6 days, so it can be almost a week until you realize you've been infected. Even then, often people think they have the stomach flu as the symptoms can be similar.

These symptoms can last for up to a week, however it can take months before bowel movements return to normal.

How do I know if I have salmonella? Here are some symptoms to look out for:

• Stomach cramps

• Diarrhea

• Nausea and vomitting

• Fever and chills

• Headache

• Bloody stool

You should see a doctor if the symptoms last longer than a few days, you have a high fever or blood in stool, and you're experiencing dehydration.

Cream Cheese Recall Products

On May 7th, 2024, Schreiber Foods, a cream cheese manufacturer, issued a recall for certain cream cheese spreads sold at Aldi and Hy-Vee due to a potential salmonella contamination.

The following products were involved in the recall. If you have any of these in your refridgerator, you should throw them away immediately:

• Happy Farms Whipped Cream Cheese Spread

• Happy Farms Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread

• Happy Farms Cream Cheese Spread

• Happy Farms Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread

• Hy-Vee Cream Cheese Spread

• Hy-Vee Cookies & Cream Mix

The recalled cream cheese was sold in Aldi the following states:

• Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

However, the Hy-Vee products were sold in the following stores:

• Hy-Vee Drugstore and Dollar Fresh Market locations

• Hy-Vee Fast and Fresh convenience stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.