Keep your Minnesota kitchen compliant. We track the latest food recalls and safety alerts so you can pull bad products fast and protect your customers.
Boar’s Head Cheese Recall: Why Traceability is Your Kitchen’s Best Defense
Have you checked the recall list this week?
The Boar’s Head cheese recall involves specific lots of Pecorino Romano cheese (both grated and in wedges) because of potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. Even though there have been no confirmed illnesses, the FDA classified this as a Class I recall because there is a reasonable probability that using the product could cause serious health consequences. If you’re managing a kitchen in Minnesota, you must immediately check your inventory for the affected lot codes and review your traceability procedures.
It’s Not Just the Deli Meat
If you’re like most food managers in Minnesota, you probably remember the massive deli meat recall earlier this year. But this latest alert proves a critical point: contamination can happen anywhere in the supply chain.
This time, it isn’t the liverwurst. It’s the Pecorino Romano.
Boar’s Head is in the news again!
Specifically, the recall affects:
- Boar’s Head Grated Pecorino Romano (6 oz jars and foodservice bags)
- Boar’s Head Pecorino Romano Wedges (7 oz)
- Note: This recall also affects other brands produced by the same supplier, including Locatelli and Ambriola.
If you’ve got these in your cooler, don’t serve them. Check the UPCs and sell-by dates against the official FDA notice immediately.
The "Peaches" Connection: Why It Could Be Anything
Checking recalls is a vital part of keeping your kitchen and patrons safe!
You’re probably thinking, “We don’t use Boar’s Head cheese, so we’re safe.” That’s a dangerous mindset.
Remember the peaches?
In late 2025, Moonlight Companies recalled yellow and white peaches because of Listeria. Back in 2020, a similar situation with Wawona peaches sickened 23 Minnesotans with Salmonella.
The lesson is simple: Whether it’s a processed dairy product like grated cheese or raw agricultural commodities like fresh peaches, the risk is always present. You can’t inspect Listeria out of a cheese wedge with the naked eye—it can survive and grow at temperatures as low as 31.3°F. You can only defend against it with traceability.
Traceability: Your Only Real Defense
When a recall hits, there are two types of kitchens:
- The Panic Kitchen: They scramble through the walk-in for 3 to 4 hours, tossing anything that “looks like” the recalled item, wasting hundreds of dollars and potentially missing the actual contaminated batch.
- The Proactive Kitchen: They pull up their invoices and receiving logs. Within 5 minutes, they know exactly when the product arrived, which lot it was, and whether it’s still in the building.
Reactive vs. Proactive Safety Procedures
Feature | The Panic Kitchen (Reactive) | The Proactive Kitchen (Safe Food Training) |
Response Time | 4+ Hours (searching physically) | < 10 Minutes (checking records) |
Waste | High (tossing safe product “just in case”) | Low (only tossing affected lots) |
Inventory Method | Visual checks only | First-In, First-Out (FIFO) & Lot Logging |
Confidence | “I think we got it all.” | “I know we’re safe.” |
3 Steps to Take Today
If you haven’t updated your receiving procedures lately, do it now.
- Log Your Lots: When high-risk items (deli meats, soft cheeses, leafy greens) arrive, write the Lot ID on your receiving log.
- Keep Invoices Accessible: Don’t just bury them in the office. If a recall alert drops during the dinner rush, your chef needs to see those dates immediately.
- Train Your Team: Does your prep cook know what a “Julian Date” is? If not, it’s time for a refresher.
Building Trust Beyond Compliance
We know how hard you work to put great food on the table. Recalls are frustrating because they feel out of your control, but how you handle them is 100% in your control. When you can look a health inspector—or a customer—in the eye and say, “We checked our lots, and we’re clear,” that isn’t just following the rules. That’s building trust. And in Minnesota, trust is everything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Recalls can be confusing, and it is natural to have questions about how they impact your certification and daily operations. Here are answers to some of the most common questions we hear from Minnesota food professionals.
Traceability is vital in any recall.
Q: Will this course fulfill Minnesota's food license requirements?
A: Absolutely. Our 8-hour food licensing course specifically aligns with and meets Minnesota’s official food safety standards, including handling recalls and traceability.
Q: How often must I complete continuing education to maintain my food safety certification in Minnesota?
A: In Minnesota, you must renew your certified food protection manager license by completing continuing education every 3 years. Staying current helps you stay on top of new risks like these.
Q: How does Safe Food Training support clients beyond the initial course?
A: We’re committed to building and maintaining relationships. We provide ongoing support through renewal reminders and as a reliable resource during confusing recalls like this.
Q: What's the primary service that Safe Food Training offers?
A: We specialize in providing personalized, 8-hour certified food protection manager licensing courses tailored for food professionals across Minnesota. We teach you the systems to handle recalls effectively.
Q: Why is staying current with food safety standards so important?
A: Upholding Minnesota’s food safety standards is critical for protecting public health. As these recalls show, ensuring your business remains compliant is the only way to protect your reputation.
Secure Your Kitchen Today
Don’t leave your kitchen’s safety to chance.
Register for an upcoming course at https://www.safefoodtraining.com, complete your food safety certification, and learn how to build a defense system that works.
When the Supply Chain Fails: The Peach Recall and Why Every Certified Food Protection Manager Must Pay Attention
The peach recall is still rolling out through related products.
As a Minnesota food safety professional, my usual focus is on in-house standards like time/temperature and hygiene. However, the recent nationwide peach recalls—initially fresh peaches from HMC Farms and Moonlight Companies due to Listeria, followed by Kroger’s “Private Selection” peach salsa recall—demonstrate the critical need for a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) to manage external threats. The salsa recall was necessary because it was made with the contaminated peaches, illustrating the “continuing fallout” and the vital lessons in traceability and supplier-level risk for all Minnesota food managers.
1. The Initial Recall: A Problem at the Source
The first recall was for the raw, agricultural product—the fresh peaches. Listeria is a bacterium found in soil, water, and animal feces, meaning contamination can happen right on the farm or in the processing plant.
This presents an immediate challenge for you, whether you are a manager, chef, or business owner.
- You cannot see the threat: Listeria doesn’t change the smell, taste, or appearance of the food. A contaminated peach looks just like a safe peach. This is why we rely on food safety systems, not our senses.
- The supplier is your first line of defense: This incident underscores the importance of using approved, reputable suppliers. Even the best suppliers can experience a recall; they must have procedures to identify and notify you immediately.
Receiving is a critical control point: Your receiving dock is more than a doorway. It’s the first checkpoint in your kitchen’s safety plan. You must train your team to check for undamaged packaging, proper temperatures (when applicable), and to know who your suppliers are.
2. The "Recall Fallout" and Your Certified Food Protection Manager Training
The secondary recall of the peach salsa is, in many ways, the more important lesson for a Certified Food Protection Manager. The salsa company didn’t necessarily do anything wrong in its own kitchen, but a contaminated ingredient it received from a supplier affected it.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have a traceability plan? If you received a recall notice today for “HMC Farms Peaches,” could you—within minutes—know if you had that product? Could you check whether you used that product in a batch of house-made chutney, a dessert special, or a salad?
- Are you tracking lot codes? For many managers, the box is broken down and the invoice filed away. Best practice during a high-risk event is to maintain traceability. This can mean having a simple log or even just clipping the lot code label from a case and attaching it to your invoice.
How Fast Can You Act? A recall is a race against the clock. Your role as a CFPM is to have a plan before you need it. This includes identifying the product, segregating it (labeling it “DO NOT USE”), and communicating with staff and, if necessary, the public and your local health department.
3. The Pathogen: Why Listeria is a Unique Threat
This recall involved Listeria, not E. coli or Salmonella. For a food professional, this distinction is critical, as Listeria has a terrifying “superpower.”
- It Grows in the Cold: This is the most important fact. Unlike most bacteria that are slowed by refrigeration, Listeria monocytogenes can continue to grow and multiply at refrigerated temperatures (40°F or below).
- The Risk in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods: A manager might mistakenly believe a product is “safe” once it’s in the walk-in cooler. With Listeria, that cooler can become an incubator. This makes it uniquely dangerous for ready-to-eat foods that lack a “kill step” (i.e., cooking), such as fresh salsa, deli meats, soft cheeses, and sprouts.
- It is a zero-tolerance pathogen: Because Listeria is so dangerous, especially to high-risk populations, there is a “zero-tolerance” policy for it in ready-to-eat foods. A single cell is all it takes to render a food “adulterated.” This is why you see massive recalls from a potential contamination, not just a confirmed one.
These events are clear reminders that food safety isn’t just a poster on the wall; it’s an active, daily-managed system. And you lead that system.
Build Your Expertise with Safe Food Training
Millions of peaches? What’s in your inventory?
Recalls are real-world tests of your food safety systems. As a Certified Food Protection Manager, you lead the effort to protect public health and your business’s reputation.
If you or your team need the 8-hour food licensing certification or your three-year renewal, we offer friendly, personalized, and effective training tailored for Minnesota food professionals.
Don’t wait for a recall. Visit safefoodtraining.com to register and gain the skills to handle any food safety challenge.