Shredded cheese and Pecorino Romano recalls, explained : NPR

The country's two latest food recalls involve cheese—and a lot of it.

The recalls are varied and involve different food safety issues: one involves hundreds of thousands of containers of shredded mozzarella and multi-cheese blends, and another involves several brands of grated Pecorino Romano.

But both target products that expire in 2026 and are sold at major retailers in more than a dozen states.

Here's what you need to know:

Review of grated cheese

Great Lakes Cheese, Ohio company which calls itself “the country's leading producer of natural cheeses” initiated a review half a dozen types of grated cheese products – from mozzarella to pizza – in early October because they may contain metal fragments.

This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded its risk classification to Class IIthe second highest, meaning that consumption of the product may cause “temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects.”

The affected cheeses are sold under dozens of brands at nationwide retailers, including Target, Walmart, Publix and Aldi.

The FDA says they have been distributed to 31 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas. Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico.

The recalled bags, with varying expiration dates in February and March 2026, include:

• Low-moisture, semi-skimmed shredded mozzarella from the following brands: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, Happy Farms by Aldi, HEB, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck's, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets and Sunnyside Farms.
• Italian Style Grated Cheese Blend under the brand names: Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Coburn Farms, Great Value, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Publix, Simply Go and Happy Farms by Aldi.
• Shredded cheese mixture, like on pizza from Food Club, Econo, Gold Rush Creamery, Great Value, Laura Lynn and Simply Go.
• Blend of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese from Freedom's Choice, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese and Great Value, and mozzarella and parmesan mixture from Good & Gather.

A complete list of products is on the website. FDA website. The FDA did not issue a press release or respond to NPR's request for comment on the recall. NPR reached out to Great Lakes Cheese but had not heard back by press time.

Review of Pecorino Romano

Ambriola, a New Jersey-based cheese distributor, announced last week that the company is recalling some of its products after routine testing confirmed the presence of listeria, which could potentially cause life-threatening infections.

The company said that while no illnesses have been reported, it is recalling products processed at the same facility “out of an abundance of caution.” The products were sold to retail stores and other distributors between Nov. 3 and Nov. 20, according to the FDA.

“We take food safety very seriously and have immediately alerted stores and distributors to remove the affected products from shelves,” Ambriola CEO Phil Marfuggi said in a statement. says the statement. “We are working closely with the FDA and continue to test our products and equipment to fully understand the situation.”

The recalled products are sold — in both plastic containers and pound-sized plastic bags — under the brands Ambriola, Locatelli, Pinna, Boar's Head and Member's Mark.

Their expiration dates range from February to May 2026. However, where exactly the cheeses ended up is unclear. Walmart says some are sold in Walmart stores in 14 states and Sam's Club stores in 27 states.

Wegman's also has announced a recall Locatelli Pecorino Romano brand – for the same listeria-related reason – which it said was sold in stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., between November 14 and 24.

The FDA urges consumers to throw away or return the cheese for a refund and to contact their doctor if they become ill. symptoms of listeria infectionwhich usually begins within two weeks of eating contaminated food and may include fever, headache, neck stiffness and muscle pain.

In the meantime, Ambriola says it has suspended production and distribution of the affected products as it conducts a “thorough review of all sanitation and food safety procedures.”