Mexican Homemade Cheese believed to be linked to Salmonella

Homemade queso fresco , a Mexican-style soft cheese, may have caused at least seven salmonella infections recently in the Salt Lake Valley, public health officials said Thursday.

The cases are linked to one person in Kearns who made the fresh cheese with raw milk from a neighborhood cow, said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the State Department of Agriculture.

Officials believe the contaminated cheese was sold or given away to friends and neighbors, but not produced or sold commercially.

"We believe the contamination came from the raw milk," Lewis said. However, the cheese maker would not tell officials where he obtained the milk.

The salmonella cases came to the attention of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department after people became sick with diarrhea, fever and stomach pains. When a sample of the cheese was tested at the state's Public Health Laboratory, the bacteria officially known as "Salmonella Newport" was found.

Public health officials are still uncertain how the cheese is getting contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, but believe the cheese is either being contaminated from ingredients used to make the queso fresco (such as unpasteurized/raw milk), or from cross-contamination of the cheese (e.g. through using a bowl to prepare or hold raw chicken, and then using that same bowl without cleaning it to make the cheese).

If you buy queso fresco, make sure it comes from the refrigerated area of the grocery store or market, and that it is sealed and labeled for commercial sale.