Listeria can pose special challenges for artisan cheesemakers. Many make their cheese right on the farm, where the bad bacteria are right outside the cheese room door. And small producers often lack the safety training and resources available at bigger companies.
For example, Sharon McCool got a shock last year as she prepared to begin selling the first batch of cheese she had made from milk produced at her family’s organic dairy, Rosecrest Farm, in Chehalis, Wash. State inspectors told her the Swiss cheese she had labored over for months was contaminated with listeria.
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