ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is advising consumers to avoid consuming Blackstar Dairy brand heavy whipping cream with a sell-by date of 6/17/2012 after routine sampling by MDA staff found the product had not been properly pasteurized.
Blackstar, located in Solway, Minn., is contacting retail stores and voluntarily recalling the product. Customers who have the product at home should return it to the store from which they purchased it. Blackstar reports that about 400 pints of product were produced with that sell-by date, which is stamped on the front of the jug. The product is distributed statewide by Trudeau Distribution. No illnesses have been linked to this product.
Pasteurization is the process of heating milk for a set period of time to a set temperature to kill bacteria. By heating the milk, bacteria that can cause human illnesses are killed or inactivated. Pasteurization has been used for many decades to kill bacteria when milk is processed for bottling or the production of other dairy products.
MDA inspectors will be visiting with Minnesota retail and wholesale food businesses in the coming weeks to share information about the situation and to verify that at-risk product have been removed from the marketplace.
Source: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture