ACS Executive Director, Nora Weiser, spoke with FDA representatives today to seek insight on FDA’s
direction following the listeriosis outbreak linked to Vulto Creamery. FDA has informed ACS that this
outbreak appears to be a “facility-specific situation.” Based on the fact that the problems were related
to facility conditions, and isolated to the facility, FDA wants to reassure ACS members that it does not
currently have plans to refocus attention on raw milk cheese. FDA is hoping to post a redacted Form
483 (inspection report) to provide more detail regarding its findings. They will inform ACS if and when
this report is made public on the FDA website.

Based on the information that has emerged so far, FDA emphasizes the need to scrupulously follow
all food safety plans and guidelines and recommends that ACS members focus their attention on
Listeria monocytogenes control.

For practical resources, please see:

• ACS Best Practices Guide for Cheesemakers
• ACS 2016 Conference session recordings: Six-Part Safe Cheesemaking Track and The L
  Word: Listeria
• Control of Listeria Monocytogenes Guidance for the U.S. Dairy Industry from the Innovation
  Center for U.S. Dairy
• Food safety plan and recall plan templates from the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance
• The Safe Cheesemaking Hub at www.safecheesemaking.org

While this sheds some initial light on the situation, ACS will continue to seek additional information,
and we will share more details with members as they become available.

To assist us in monitoring the situation, please keep us posted if you are inspected, engage with
regulators, or have other pertinent information to share by emailing Nora Weiser at
nweiser@cheesesociety.org.