Awareness of consumer safety has come to the forefront of public issues since a Salt Lake couple filed a complaint September 4 suing Smith’s Food and Drug Centers after finding a latex glove in a two-pound block of cheese.
Claiming that they suffered “extreme physical pain and mental anguish” after eating some of the medium cheddar cheese, Victor and Jennifer Ludlow are asking for $100,000 in damages or whatever sum a jury considers a reasonable amount.
Smith’s spokeswoman Marsha Gilford said that the allegations are under investigation but that company officials believe the tainted product was an isolated incident that occurred in the manufacturing process.
The cheese was packaged under Smith’s private brand label, and was produced by Simplot Dairy Products in Nampa, Idaho. Simplot had not yet been officially notified of the lawsuit and declined to make a statement.
The lawsuit also names four unidentified manufacturers and packagers of cheese sold under the label, and contends that the producers of the cheese violated the 1990 Utah Wholesome Food Act by failing to “exercise due care” and guarantee products fit for human consumption.
Gilford said customers very rarely complain about Smith’s products, and those who do are usually satisfied to exchange for undamaged goods.
“We work with top-of-the-line manufacturers and we trust that they will deliver high quality products. Of course, whenever you work with humans, there is opportunity for mistakes, but we are willing to stand behind our products and our manufacturers 100 percent,” she said.
Because cheese production requires a lengthy process of curing, pinpointing the date or cause of the production flaw is difficult. Gilford said the cheese came from a batch manufactured in January, and that most of the other blocks from that batch had probably already been sold.
However, she added, “If there are any blocks remaining on the shelves from this batch, we’re going to remove them and cut them open.”
Customers who think they may have purchased a similar block of cheese and are concerned about safety information can exchange the product at a local Smith’s.
Kevin Ransom, quality assurance manager at Dairy Farmers of America in Logan, Cache County, said it is hard to imagine how a taint of such magnitude slipped through the rigid quality control systems most dairy plants maintain.
Dairy Farmers of America, the company that makes Cache Valley Cheese, produces 100,000 pounds of cheese a day, and all of it passes through hazard analysis and critical control points to insure quality and health.
“What we have in place is a Good Manufacturing Practice training course, to train employees as to what they should do to keep the product clean and safe,” Ransom said. “Our supervisors are there to supervise and to go through the processes to make certain that the products meet the standards.”
