If you were hoping to cook up a serving of mac and cheese or perhaps a juicy cheeseburger for dinner tonight, you should definitely reconsider your dinner plans because a Class II recall has recently been issued for a crowd-favorite cheese sold at Aldi stores in four states due to a potential contamination and consumers are urged to discard of the product immediately.
Cheese sold at Aldi is being urgently recalled
After a potential contamination of metal was discovered in bags of cheese sold at Aldi supermarkets, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Class II recall notice urging all consumers to refrain from consuming the product and discard of it as soon as possible.
Close to five thousand bags of cheese were found to have a potential metal contamination and had been distributed to Aldi stores in four states. The cheese in question is the supermarket’s private label brand of Colby Jack cheese called Happy Farms by ALDI Colby Jack, which consists of a mix of finely shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses.
According to FDA guidelines, when the recall status of a contaminated item is elevated to Class II, it means that “coming into contact with or being exposed to a contaminated product that may cause temporary or medically reversible health consequences and the chances of a person becoming seriously harmed are minimal.” A Class II status is the second most severe of the three categorization levels issued by the FDA and as such customers are urged to tread with caution.
How to identify the recalled product
On February 15, Great Lakes Cheese Co. Inc., the parent company who produces the cheeses for the supermarket, issued a voluntary recall of the Happy Farms by ALDI Colby Jack cheese packages after foreign matter had potentially found its way into 4,800 packs of the item. The foreign matter is alleged to be stainless steel fragments. On March 19, the FDA elevated this voluntary recall to a Class II status and an end date for the recall is yet to be announced.
The recalled product can be identified as follows:
Name: Happy Farms by ALDI Colby Jack a blend of finely shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses.
Weight: 12 oz (340 g) and is packaged in stand-up pouches. Each case consists of 12 pouches.
Best by dates: July 13, 2025, and July 14, 2025.
It has been shared that four hundred cases containing a total of 4,800 individual packages of the cheese had been distributed to Aldi supermarkets across four states in the U.S., namely, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Statement from Aldi
The German-born supermarket chain with a well established presence in the United States has not yet released any sort of statement to American media outlets regarding this recall.
However, according to the international supermarket giant’s internal protocol, manufacturers, as well as the chain’s corporate purchasing department are given a “pull-from-sale” alert which is meant to trigger an immediate response to products with a potential for health risks or injury.
As such, according to the recall notice, consumers are urged to thoroughly check the label and packaging of the cheese in their refrigerators so as to ensure it has not been recalled by the FDA and Great Lakes Cheese Co.. Additionally, if any individual from the abovementioned four states finds themselves in possession of the recalled Happy Farms by ALDI Colby Jack cheese blend, the consumers are advised to refrain from consuming the product. Instead, the recalled cheese mix should immediately be discarded. If an individual is experiencing any sort of illness or injury as a result of consuming the recalled product as specified above, they should contact a doctor or seek medical attention immediately.