Panera Bread Listeria Recall: Throw Out Cream Cheese

GERMANTOWN, MD — Panera Bread said Sunday it is voluntarily recalling cream cheese products from its bakery-cafes nationwide after one variety showed the Listeria contamination, including its Germantown stores. The chain said samples of one of its varieties from a single day of production tested positive for the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, and that tests on cream cheese samples manufactured the day before and after were negative.

Listeria Monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. It's also particularly dangerous to pregnant women, as it can cause miscarriages and still births.

Healthy people usually only suffer short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Both 2-ounce and 8-ounce varieties with an expiration date before April 2, 2018, are subject to the recall. The affected brands are Plain Cream Cheese, Reduced-Fat Plain Cream Cheese, Reduced-Fat Chive & Onion Cream Cheese, Reduced-Fat Honey Walnut Cream Cheese, Reduced-Fat Wild Blueberry Cream Cheese.

The recall only affects cream cheese sold in bakery cafes in the United States, and doesn't affect any other of Panera's food products.

"The safety of our guests and associates is paramount, therefore we are recalling all cream cheese products sold in the US with an active shelf life. We have likewise ceased all manufacturing in the associated cream cheese facility," Blaine Hurst, Panera's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Only one variety of 2-oz cream cheese from a single day yielded the positive result. Our intent is to go above and beyond for our guests. You should expect nothing less from Panera."

The Germantown locations include 19965 Century Blvd. and 20680 Seneca Meadows Pkwy.

Customers who bought the cream cheese should throw it away and call the company at 1 (855)-6-PANERA or visit the customer help website, for information about how to claim a full refund.

Main image: AP Photo/Steven Senne, File. Cream cheese images via Panera Bread.