One of our favorite foodie joints -- with a large following from all over these parts --  Oscar's Smokehouse, has issued a recall on a batch of its cheese spreads. From owner Jerold Quintal: "First...we want you to know that: THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF ILLNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSUMPTION OF THESE PRODUCTS".

Here is what Joe sent his customers:

VOLUNTARY RECALL NOTICE TO ALL OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS

DEAR VALUED OSCAR’S CUSTOMER:

On March 24, 2014 Oscar's Smokehouse, Inc. voluntarily recalled Eleven (11) varieties of its "CHEDDAR CHEESE SPREADS" following notification by the FDA of a possible Listeria contamination of cheese products supplied to us by one of our wholesale vendors. These spreads were produced and sold by us during the time period from March 21, 2013 to March 24, 2014…they all have unique 3 digit lot numbers ranging from 719 through 959.[the lot number appears on the container]

First...we want you to know that: THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF ILLNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSUMPTION OF THESE PRODUCTS.

Second...Oscars is in good standing with the USDA, FDA and the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets. We have procedures in place that help us immediately identify potential problems in the products that “WE PRODUCE from start to finish.” We do however periodically purchase some ingredients and “base products” from wholesale food suppliers that are used to create our “finished products”. That is the case with our Cheese Spreads…the base cheese component is purchased from a reputable wholesale vendor and is used by us to create the finished Cheese Spreads which we offer. Obviously, we take great care to make sure that we only buy the best ingredients to be utilized in making our food products…but, in this case we were truly unaware of the problem until we were contacted by the FDA. We were notified that following a routine product sampling inspection by a Minnesota state regulatory agency it was determined that “there was a possibility” that some of the finished products that the vendor produced could contain the bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes.

If you currently have any of cheese spreads with lot numbers listed…please discard… DO NOT CONSUME THEM. Please call us at 1-800-627-3431 and we will gladly issue you a refund….

Our customer call center is open: Sunday-Thursday 8am-6pm EST at 1-800-627-3431.

We are available to answer any questions you may have concerning this matter during that time. 

We repeat again: THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF ILLNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSUMPTION OF THESE PRODUCTS.

Oscar's Smokehouse has been in business for over 67 years and we take great pride in the quality of all our products. This is the FIRST TIME in all those years we have ever had to announce a recall for something we offer in our store. Since this is a very important issue we wanted to be sure you had all the information and background on what happened.

This notification required us to announce the recall of some of our cheese spreads…it is unfortunate, but it is the necessary to ensure our customers are safeguarded.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this recall may have caused, but we want to assure our customers that we will continue to produce the quality products that you have come to know and love over the past 67 years and will do so with the utmost of care.

Sincerely,

Jerold Quintal
Owner