Latest Kraft Recall Includes 7,700 Cases of Kraft American Singles

There’s nothing tastier than a classic grilled cheese sandwich, but you may want to double check the label on your Kraft American Singles. A recent Kraft recall affects the 12-, 16-, and 24-ounce size packages with a “best when used by” date of February 20, 2015. Cheese slices in the 12-ounce size with a “best when used by” date of February 21, 2015 are also affected.

The date should be stamped at the bottom of the package. The package codes of the affected Kraft American Singles all start with 0 21000 then have the suffixes 60464 7, 61526 1, or 63360 9. All of the affected cheese was produced at Kraft’s manufacturing facility in Springfield, Missouri.

There have been no reports of illness related to consumption of the Kraft American Singles so far, but Kraft is concerned that the 7,700 cases of cheese involved in the recall could spoil quicker than expected.

Cheese products covered in the Kraft recall can be returned to the store where they were purchased for an exchange or refund. Kraft is asking that customers do not eat any of the cheese covered in the recall.

Dairy products are a common source of food recalls, since milk, cheese, and ice cream can all cause foodborne illness if they are not prepared and stored properly. In recent months, there have been several cases of Kraft dairy products causing problems. In June, 260 cases of Velveeta cheese were recalled in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin because the cheese lacked the proper levels of sorbic acid, a preservative designed to prevent premature spoilage.

In May, 1.2 million cases of cottage cheese were recalled due to concerns that they could spoil and cause an illness after Kraft uncovered a failure to store the products properly at a California production facility. Last October, Kraft recalled 735,000 cases of string cheese because it was found to have spoiled and changed color before its expiration date. The tainted products in this recall came from a plant in Campbell, New York.

Food recalls can be scary if you’ve ever had a personal experience with food poisoning, but it’s important to keep in mind that most recalls only affect a limited number of products and are done as a preemptive measure to keep people from getting sick. If you’re concerned about the safety of your food, Recalls.gov offers an easy way to make sure you’re up-to-date on all of the latest food recalls. If desired, you can sign up for free recall updates via e-mail.

For questions about Kraft recalls specifically, contact Kraft Foods Consumer Relations at 1-800-396-6307 between 9 am and 6 pm EST.

[Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr]