The Labeling Error That Caused Great Lakes Cheese Co. To Recall Over 7 Million Pounds Of Cheese

We've all made small mistakes in the kitchen, and suffered disastrous consequences. In the food processing industry, however, the tiniest oversight can trigger a crisis at a completely different scale, as Great Lakes Cheese learnt two years ago, when they had to recall over 7 million pounds of cheese. And what was the error that sparked one of the biggest cheese recalls in American history? Incorrect refrigeration instructions on their labels.

Great Lakes Cheese Co. is the leading cheese manufacturer and packager in America, and this recall affected products from over 20 different brands, including Essential Everyday, ALDI and Walmart's Great Value. There is a long list of Do's and Don'ts of refrigerating cheese, and this changes from one type to the next. Wrong, or unclear instructions could lead to spoilage. For most people, the effects of consuming bad cheese can range from mild food poisoning to moderate allergic reaction. The FDA's Enforcement Report classified the 2023 recalls under Class III, the lowest level of product removal. This category is used when manufacturing or packaging errors are unlikely to pose any health risk. Under "reason for recall," the report states that the cheese "may not be refrigerated at the customer level due to varying refrigeration requirements listed on the finished product labels."

Incidentally, label errors accounted for nearly half the total product recalls in 2024. According to analysis by supply chain giants Loftware, 192 of the 422 instances of food being pulled back was because of incorrect labeling. The report pegs the estimated cost of these recalls at $1.92 billion. Clearly, there's no such thing as a "small mistake" when it comes to the manufacturing and packaging industry.

Great Lakes Cheese is the leading cheese packager in America, and here's some context of the scale of their operation: America is the world's largest cheese producer by some distance, making 6,220,001 tons of cheese a year. And while Great Lakes as a brand didn't even make it to our ranking of 15 most popular cheeses, they fulfil a quarter of America's packaged cheese requirements. Their manufacturing facility in Hiram, Georgia, produces 50 million pounds of cheese every year, and that's one of nine plants across six states in the country.

More recently, in December 2025, Great Lakes Cheese was forced to recall 350,000 cases of shredded cheese sold at Aldi, Walmart, and other big stores due to potential metal contamination. This was a Class II recall, which applies when consumption of the food products in question could result in temporary health issues. Class I recalls are reserved for scenarios in which regulators have reason to believe there's a serious public health risk involved, including potential fatalities.