Local News in Brief : Warning on Soft Cheese

Los Angeles County health officials are warning area residents not to eat unlabeled soft cheeses, saying the food could be contaminated with listeria bacteria.

Toby Staheli, a county Department of Health spokeswoman, said the risk of becoming ill increases in the spring when many Latino families substitute the so-called Mexican cheeses for meat in Lenten meals.

The most likely products to be contaminated are unwrapped block cheeses called queso fresco and queso anejo--sometimes called cotija cheese--that are sold illegally without labels, she said. Contamination with listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which causes listeriosis, does not change a cheese’s appearance or taste.

More than 84 people died and more than 150 were taken ill during a listeriosis outbreak two years ago. About 40 of those deaths were traced to a soft cheese manufactured by Jalisco Mexican Products of Artesia, which has since closed.