Cheese shop closed over 'health hazards'
September 4, 2008
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Paola Loriggio
STAFF REPORTER
Public health officials yesterday shuttered a popular Kensington Market cheese shop that came under scrutiny last week when a regular customer, a pregnant woman, contracted listeriosis.
Though tests for the bacteria are pending, inspectors found "quite a bit of health hazards," including cat and mouse droppings, when they re-examined Cheese Magic, said Jim Chan, spokesperson for Toronto Public Health.
Also yesterday, a Greater Toronto Area company recalled packages of sliced mushrooms after samples tested positive for the listeria bacteria.
Grocery stores across Ontario are pulling Fresh Obsessions brand Ready-to-Serve pre-washed sliced white mushrooms after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a listeria warning Tuesday, said agency spokesperson Garfield Balsom.
The mushrooms are sold in 227 gram (eight ounce) packages, bear the lot code R12398 and are produced at Ravine Mushroom Farms Inc. of Woodbridge.
The company did not return calls for comment yesterday.
Balsom said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency doesn't know yet what caused the contamination of the mushrooms, but the bacteria could have been introduced in various ways, such as cross-contamination during slicing or contact between the finished product and manure, in which mushrooms are typically grown.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with the mushrooms, he said.
The agency has recalled mushrooms in the past.
The most recent alert was issued Aug. 1, for Fresh Obsessions brand Ready-to-Serve pre-washed white and brown mushrooms, produced by the Ottawa-based Continental Mushrooms Co. and sold at Loeb grocery stores.
Toronto Star