Authorities in the United States said on Tuesday that a former raw milk cheese producer had entered a guilty plea to charges connected to a deadly listeria epidemic that occurred between 2016 and 2017.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Johannes Vulto and his New York-based company Vulto Creamery LLC pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of causing the introduction of contaminated food into interstate commerce in federal court in Syracuse.
Between July 2014 and February 2017, environmental swabs collected at the Vulto Creamery factory in Walton showed consistent positive results for listeria germs, according to the prosecution.
After the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) linked the cheese produced by the creamery to an epidemic of listeriosis in 2017, which resulted in eight hospitalizations and two fatalities
one in Vermont and another in Connecticut — Vulto shut down the creamery and issued a thorough recall of its products.
The consumption of foods that are contaminated with listeria monocytogenes can lead to listeriosis, a bacterial illness that has the potential to present a significant risk to death.
Women who are pregnant, babies, elderly persons, and other individuals who have immune systems that are compromised are among the most at risk of experiencing serious sickness.
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Carla Freedman, stated that the dangerous practices of Vulto and his company were the cause of a "entirely preventable tragedy" that resulted in disease and death.
Brian Boynton, who is in charge of the civil division at the United States Department of Justice, stated that it is extremely important for consumers in the United States to have the ability to trust that the goods they purchase are safe to ingest.