1-800-Cheese Disaster

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@DWDavis (25797)
United States
February 18, 2017 10:13am CST
My missus and I narrowly escaped death from contaminated cheese today because we almost ignored an incoming call from a toll-free number. Thank goodness the robo-call came with a message so long I was intrigued enough to go and listen to it. Oh the horrors that might have befallen us had I not. Okay, I'll admit, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I am a fiction writer after all. What did happen is that when the phone rang, I checked Called ID to see if it was anyone I wanted to talk to. Caller ID indicated a toll-free number was calling. I ignore those. This time, instead of a hang up, a message started informing us that we may have purchased some cheese that was under recall by the manufacturer. There followed a list of the suspect cheeses along with their UPC codes. I listened to hear any of the cheeses we usually buy and there were a couple on the list. I jotted those UPC codes down and ran to our fridge. Alas, there was a cheese in our dairy drawer with the offending UPC code. Following the instructions given in the call, I visited the info site to see it our cheese fell within the range of offending Sell-By dates. Imagine my sigh of relief when it did not. As we'd eaten half the package already, we were overjoyed to learn our cheese posed us no danger. (edit) As to how the store knew to call us, we have a loyal member club card for that store that gets us discounts, special coupons, and access to limited deals. When we signed up, we gave them our landline number. We use it to get the deals when we don't have our card with us. Have you ever received a recall notice on food you've purchased? This was first for us.
21 people like this
22 responses
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
18 Feb 17
We usually eat our food as soon as it is bought so I rarely bother to check during the recalls figuring the food would be long gone and have already made us sick if it was bad. I think listeria really only hurts fetuses but I could be wrong. I think the recent recall was for sargento and I do not have any of their cheese so I ignored the posts I saw on Facebook.
2 people like this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
It was Sargento, and we had a couple different kinds of their cheese, but only one on the list, and ours didn't have one of the suspect Sell-By dates, thankfully.
2 people like this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
18 Feb 17
@DWDavis I have a friend who always makes everything from scratch. Years ago she bought them a carton of Blue Bunny ice cream for the first time. Her daughter started getting sick after and was tested at the hospital and had listeria from the ice cream which was recalled right after that. She said she would never buy store bought ice cream again :-/
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59648)
• Philippines
19 Feb 17
No, I haven't received such a call and hopefully, when that time comes, it ain't too late and I haven't eaten half of the contaminated food.
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59648)
• Philippines
19 Feb 17
@DWDavis good for you. What steps did the manufacturer undertake to correct the matter?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
20 Feb 17
@allen0187 Had we had one of the affected packets we could have returned it to the store for a full refund, even if the package was empty.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
Believe me, when I saw we'd eaten some of the cheese, I was seriously relieved the Sell-By Date on our package was not one of those included in the recall.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208746)
• United States
19 Feb 17
No, I don;t think so. Sometimes actually often, they announce those on TV.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208746)
• United States
19 Feb 17
@DWDavis Yes, Bluebell ice cream was a big one, and they also often have lettuce or other produce contaminated with ecoli.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
I remember some big food recalls announced on TV for meat, peanut butter, and ice cream over the last few years.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
18 Feb 17
No I never have, but it's great that they do call!
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Feb 17
@DWDavis Yeah, I've only ever used them to get the discounts!
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
Other than the discounts and deals, I've never given much thought to loyalty cards, though I have a lot of them, but now I have a new appreciation for them.
@rebelann (117196)
• El Paso, Texas
18 Feb 17
Oh lordy lordy, now I am worried, I love cheese but have never gotten a call like that. May I ask that you share the website where the UPC codes can be checked?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
The recall was for Sargento cheeses. The site is info.sargento.com. They list the cheeses, UPC Codes, and Sell-By dates of the affected cheeses.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (117196)
• El Paso, Texas
18 Feb 17
Oh what a relief @DWDavis I never buy that brand so I'm in the clear Sams has this really great cheddar labeled Mainland New Zealand Organic cheese, it's fantastic.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
@rebelann I'll have to look for it. My wife loves the Irish cheeses they sell at Sams.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
19 Feb 17
I'm glad you listened to that call, and your cheese posed no problem. I've never had a recall situation, but I know people who have on their cars though, not food.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
We've had recalls on our cars now and then over the years, but this is the first on food that affected something we'd actually bought.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
21 Feb 17
@DWDavis I'm glad it worked out in your favor.
1 person likes this
@MGjhaud (23228)
• Philippines
18 Feb 17
I never even knew that there is such a thing as recalls on food products to be honest.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
I've heard of it with meats, peanut butter, and ice cream. This is the first one I've heard of with cheese, and the first on a product we'd purchased.
1 person likes this
@MGjhaud (23228)
• Philippines
18 Feb 17
i just realized we get food warnings on tv(news) but not a phone call.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
18 Feb 17
I have received notices but not by phone. I got them by email. I refuse to give my number to anyone but family and very close friends. I gave my number once to Great Clips years ago and got so many sales calls that I had to change my number. I get my notifications by email.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
18 Feb 17
@DWDavis I won't have a landline anymore because of the political parties. The election of 2012 was particularly awful, my phone rang day and night with robo-calls and live callers, all wanting me to vote their way. I was on the do not call list, too. I finally got so worked up that I threw the phone across the room and it broke. I didn't bother to replace it, just cancelled the line. I didn't have voice mail or caller ID cos it was a very old phone. Thank goodness it wasn't one of those old ones from the 50s or it would have gone through the wall, they were very heavy!
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
The only reason we've kept our landline is to have a phone number to give out in situations like this. We never answer the landline unless we recognize the caller. We let it go straight to voicemail. If the caller is legit, they'll leave a message.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230334)
• Chile
18 Feb 17
I haven´t. But I´m glad you have that where you live. Usually when there´s such a problem in my country, the news talk about it. But if the news fall when your favorite show is on, you will take no notice of it. Fortunatly for me, my best friend is a nurse and recieves all those calls. She sends me the horror posibilities with a picture of the problem to my cell phone.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230334)
• Chile
19 Feb 17
@DWDavis True. It can be very dangerous.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
You're very lucky to have a friend who keeps you informed about such things.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502148)
• Italy
18 Feb 17
Yes, I have received once, I think to remember canned sardines, I had not yet opened the can and brought them back to the store for a refund.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
I am grateful the store was able to identify who had purchased the cheese in question because we use our loyalty card. It gave them a record of which customers purchased that UPC code.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502148)
• Italy
19 Feb 17
@DWDavis I also use a loyalty card, so they can inform me in case of problems.
1 person likes this
@hostessman (11871)
• Tucson, Arizona
19 Feb 17
never have recieved a call about any food product, kind of wierd
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
I've heard about food recalls on TV, but to get a phone call about it did weird me out a little.
@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
18 Feb 17
Only from the class action attorneys wanting people to join to make him rich.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
I was reading an article the other day about how, after deducting their "expenses" and their fee from the settlement, those class action attorneys can walk away with 60% or more of the money they win for the plaintiffs. I think that is disgusting.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
18 Feb 17
@DWDavis The attorney for the largest won suit from Monsanto and I was in got millions, we got a couple thousands each. We are dying from the poison and he is on his yacht partying.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
18 Feb 17
Geez, that must have been an unnerving couple of minutes.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
I was very concerned when I saw it was a pack of cheese we'd already used, and very relieved when it had the wrong date, so to speak.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
18 Feb 17
@DWDavis - Glad it turned out ok.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
18 Feb 17
Well glad that all worked out for you and the missus.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
We were extremely relieved since we'd already had some of the cheese on a salad a couple nights ago.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
18 Feb 17
@DWDavis that would he scary.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
19 Feb 17
It is always good to check expiry dates as well. When I was shopping in Melbourne I got attracted to those giant sized Toblerone chocolates that were being sold at heavily discounted rates. I picked a few and as i was about to make payment I cursorily checked at the expiry date and I noticed they well past that date. I did not buy.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
My wife is strict about expiry dates. She won't even buy something if the date is a few days away unless it can be frozen. If it is dairy or produce, and we aren't going to use it all right away, she'll leave it on the shelf and look for something with a later date.
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
18 Feb 17
No, I've never had any calls like that. So it was a legit call?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
The call was legit. I checked the web site they referenced and it had a whole list of Sargento products that were on recall, their UPC codes, and the Sell-By dates in question. Sure glad I listened to that message.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Feb 17
Sure am happy to hear that you narrowly missed disaster with that recalled cheese. Nope, I've been lucky that I've never purchased any food item that was recalled
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@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
This is the first time we've received a food recall. It seems like every year we get at least one recall notice on one of our vehicles for something or other.
@DianneN (254949)
• United States
20 Feb 17
Fortunately or unfortunately, no.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 17
We've never had that happen here. I wonder how many take the time to listen right through?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Feb 17
I don't usually, but I happened to hear the name of the store and the word recall, so thought I'd better pay attention. Sure glad I did.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
18 Feb 17
I haven't. I kept waiting for the scam punchline and it turned out your call was genuine. We are so conditioned to scams and solicitations that we may miss that one in a million relevant call.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 Feb 17
If I hadn't happened to be close to the phone to catch the name of the grocer and the word recall I probably would never have listened to the message at all. I'm glad we didn't have any of the bad product, but it makes me think I should pay more attention when those toll-free numbers do leave messages.
1 person likes this