Report by
Food Safety Report - Frigo Cheese, Paducah Kentucky
3 years ago •reported by user-jtrxj698
Paducah, Kentucky, United States
Purchase 36 ct string cheese with Sept 2021 expiration date. Had a few that had a funny spoiled taste and threw them away. Have had previous packs with a “dirt” taste and thrown away. However, this pack seemed hit or miss bc some tasted fine so I assumed the whole pack was not bad. Felt nauseous evening after eating 2-3 that tasted fine. Next day ate 2 more and ended up in the bathroom throwing up and with diarrhea the entire day. Have sent customer service a message but no response yet. | Symptoms: Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting
59
Frigo string Cheese from Sam's Club. Tasted funny and it immediately made me start vomiting. Will never buy again.
I purchased a package of Frigo light string cheese from Ralph's market in California which expires in November 2022. The cheese has a funny, musty or moldy taste, but no visible sign of anything. Did not make me sick, but I'm not eating any more, as something is clearly not right with it.
I am a total Frigo cheese addict I always have some in my refrigerator and it’s become a habit to get up and sneak a couple of sticks at night that’s how much I love it. The past three packages that I bought different quantities at different stores and I always pick the last expiration date to make sure they’re fresh. I can’t even explain the taste..its like the smell of a plastic doll at christmas and something else, but I literally had to spit it out. It doesn’t peel like it’s supposed to either. Maybe this is the nudge I need to quit eating Frigo cheese sticks cause I won’t be buying any more.
Show more replies
I just purchased a pack a couple of weeks ago with February 2023 exp date. They taste very strongly like chemicals. A couple of bites made me feel nauseous. I reported to Frigo...just waiting on a response.
Did you get a response?
We bought a 36 pack of string cheese yesterday from Woodmans in Appleton WI and even my 3 yr old son came to me and said it tastes fake? I smelled it and it smells like a spoiled cheese stick. Doesn’t taste bad at first but after taste is a sour taste? Exp date of April 25, 2023.
Show more replies
I am experiencing the same thing. They taste moldy but I see no mold.
I have noticed that the Cheese Heads sold in my area (Seattle and surrounding suburbs) have two very distinct flavour profiles. At first I thought it was the sell-by date, and when that proved not to be the case, I thought that perhaps it was due to the way the stores were storing it (different temperatures or styles of display cooler). Finally I realized that the cheese had different batch codes. The cheese with LC in the batch code has a very strong, "aged", tangy flavour - almost like yoghurt, or buttermilk - and while it does come apart, it doesn't "string" like the other batch code does. The cheese with S in the batch code is the yummy, salty, fresh-tasting, super shreddy cheese I love. If the batch code on the bag says LC, I don't buy it anymore. For those who may not know, the batch code can be found at the top of each individual string cheese, as well as printed on the outside of the bag. (The exact location on the bag can be different based on the size of the package.) The codes are formatted like this: 2 Digit Day, 3 Letter Month, 2 Digit Year, Facility Code (LC or S and a number, perhaps the shift), Military Time. For example, the one I am eating now has the code 15APR23S617:57. Hopefully this helps people find the cheese they are actually trying to buy. Something is fishy at their Las Cruces facility!
Show more replies
I got a 36ct pack at Walmart recently (less than 2 weeks ago), code is 25APR23S5 08:37 and it tastes awful. Been checking one by one and 99% have gone to the trash. Something going on, been happening on and off at different times for the past 2 years at least.
Same issue. Purchased at Wenatchee, WA Winco with date stamp 16may23s4 06:44
I just checked my bag it says 28MAR23S2 and it tastes like straight up chemicals I ate some threw others away because it wasn’t the all of them who do we report it to???
Mine is 01MAR23S4 and they taste rancid and awful
I got a bag of cheese (lite) sticks from Sam’s Club. Some taste good but some taste like mild to me. Can’t figure it out but I know I don’t like it! Has to have an in plant problem Since so many are talking about a moldy taste.
2nd package i buy @ Costco with April 2023 expiration date and even my toddler agrees some taste awful - musty, moldy taste. Returning them again. And not buying more...
hey, I bought three 12-packs of frigo cheese heads and all of them taste like dirt or if you licked the garden. I came online to see if i was the only one thankful i am not. hopefully it gets fixed soon.
Show more replies
I just ate one of ours and they taste like potting soil.
06JUL2023 cheese taste like dirt. This is crazy and seems to have been going on for awhile now.
Anyone know where to report his stuff to? Mine tastes moldy or spoild. 25APR23S1
I just bought a back at a stator brothers on southern California, and it's absolutely disgusting. Like I eating a chemical. I've been nauseous all day. 25APR23S2
Bought a huge package of the Frigo cheese strings at Costco, Chicago and most of them taste odd. Some tasted moldy whilst others had a weird perfumy taste. Odd there are so many of us experiencing this.
Show more comments
26APR23S3. the 25 April - 26 April looks to be suspect based on these comments
25APR23S(or 5)3- bought the 36 pack at Smith's, some taste earthy, like dirt- aka MOLD. They look fine, and usually I purchase the smaller packs from Walmart and don't have any issue. Gross!!
26APR23S2 60 pack from Costco tastes like chemicals and/or mold. Bought a couple weeks ago.
01MAY23S1 05:57 winco cheese sticks tastes like the smell of potting soil or dirt. Only some of them.
31MAY23S1 21:14 frigo cheese sticks bought at Costco in the big bag- more than half have had some sort of fertilizer/dirt taste. Seeing a lot of similar comments recently, something is definitely wrong with them!
YES. All the comments. My cheese sticks taste like chemicals.
My family has purchased Frigo’s string cheese for years. The last few packs have tasted awful, Weird, like a plastic doll or chemical, not like cheese, not even like mold. Package states it’s fresh and not expired. Something is very very wrong with frigo string cheese. I will never buy it again for my family.
I was running low on the pack I got from Sam’s Club about a month ago, so I grabbed a 12 pack of string cheese from my local Publix. So far every one of them tastes like mold and one even had visible mold on the top after opening it. My expiration date shows 15 June 23 (S1). This is the only type of string cheese I like and I feel like it’s has been ruined, since I’m now afraid to eat another one or eat mold.
Same thing here in Jacksonville, FL. When we first bought the package the taste was subtle (but like mold). I decided to try another and it is very strong mold taste. Expiration isn't until June 23
31MAY23S2 - 60 pack at Costco last week. Strong moldy dirt taste in some and strong spoiled taste in others. Returning. Hopefully other will as well and it will spark a recall. We won't buy again.
Ok, so I’ve been experiencing this on and off for the last year. When the are good, they are really good! But I just got another bag from Costco ( Clarkston WA) and they are all spoiled. Look fine but take a bite and immediately gagging. 11JUL23S1
I bought a 60 pack from Costco in Santa Barbara, CA a month or so ago with 28MAR23S2 date. My son showed me that some unopened ones had bright blue mold. Others were fine so I thought maybe it was a fluke, but I have decided to return/throw out the rest in case they are contaminated. I am afraid to buy them again.
:( Same thing here in Albertsons in Buena Park CA Very nasty perfume-like taste, didn't look like anything visual that I could see that was wrong though. So strange
Amesbury, MA. Purchased this week, ate quite a few until I just encountered one with a bad taste. This isn't the first time this has happened. I chalked it up to bad cheese that time. This time I googled and found everyone on here saying the same thing. Exp date is June 2023.
Columbus, OH - Costco Add me to the gross cheese. We’ve always bought this brand, hopefully they fix their issues. Expiration date isn’t until June 2023 but they’re gross
This is literally the same thing I’ve experienced! Moldy tasting cheese. Expires June 2023.
I bought 3 large packs at Stater Brothers tried 1 out of each pack they all taste moldy but no mold. They need to recall
Oh wow, so many of us
Purchased the large pack from Costco 3/11, with expiration date July 2023. Awful. Taste is off and we’re experiencing nausea and stomach troubles from only eating a small amount. At first I thought we had a virus, but this is the clear common denominator.
Got a 60 pack from Costco in California recently with expiration date August 2023 and some have the same moldy/chemically/dirt-y taste other commenters have described. It's weird because half of the cheese stick smells/tastes completely normal while the other half is off. I noticed that the bad part of the cheese stick was always the bottom part, opposite from the opening tabs. Maybe caused by something in the production/transportation process? I'm bummed because these have been my favorite for years
NH here and I've encountered exactly the same things that have been mentioned above. Code #: C4JUL23S2 and they are the "Light" variety. Been buying them for years and this is the first time I've experienced this weird dirty, moldy, chemical like taste. Kind of sad I had to throw the whole bag away.
Apologies. Code #: 04JUL23S2
Same in Hillsboro, OR…use by 20MAY23S1 843323, 60-pack from Costco. First Frigo string cheese tasted strongly of chemicals and seemed softer than usual. Spit it out right away. Thought it may have been my taste buds after having eaten something else. Have had several OK sticks. Got home today and hubby said he was eating anFrigo string cheese and had to spit it out. We both said “tasted like SOAP” at the same time.
Show more replies
To clarify, it’s not every stick in the package that tastes “off” and no other foods are tasting of chemicals, just an occasional Frigo string cheese stick. It’s odd. Costco said to return the package.
I was just searching internet about this VERY ISSUE. Several sticks in my batch from Costco taste like plastic. I ate a few, thought maybe something was wrong with my taste, then the other night the plastic was so bad, I spit it out and vowed not to eat any more of this bag. I plan to return to Costco. Will never buy again.
In PA I bought mine from Sam's club about a month ago. Before this they were always fine, but this time it tasted like chemicals and I got very sick! At first I didn't know the cheese was bad because I'm congested. So tasting it was hard. Then today I can breathe better and once I bit the cheese I knew something was wrong. I'm just not going to buy it anymore. Just to be safe.
In Sacramento, CA—we bought ours from Costco. Strong taste of mold on certains sticks, but not the whole way through. No visual sign of mold though.
Same here , bought a package in CA , were soft and tasted mold… a month later bought them again but in FL and the same issue ! :(
I too have experienced the dirt/mold taste. It's terrible!! They do need to fix this.. I fed one to my child.
We have had the same experience. Bought 2x 36 packs of Frigo cheese sticks. Ate part of one last night and it tasted earthy, like dirt/mold. Threw it in the garbage and thought maybe it was just me. Had another tonight, same deal. Opened the other bag and they also taste earthy. Bought from BJ’s in Tampa Bay Area.
I bought two bags of them from store in Aiken, SC, and they made me vomit a few hours after eating them. I thought it might be something else but this is the third time they've done it and it was definitely the cheese this time. I didn't eat anything else but the cheese.
Been experimenting weird stuff with that brand too! Was my favorite up until recently. About a year ago started noticing every bag taste different!! I buy light and regular and I’d never know what they’d taste like anymore, it was so weird! Sometimes the light would taste and feel like regular and vise verse. Then recently they were starting to taste gross, some so bad I couldnt eat and even more recently started making me super nauseous!!!! What’s happening?!
Bought a 36 count package at Meijer in Michigan. O5AUG23S2/05ABU2362/056U23S2 ...all in same package but different codes and all with 04:11 time code. Smell sour/spoiled. Will be returning to store!
I have had this issue off and over the past couple of years with Frigo cheese sticks. I will take a bite or two and it will taste like mold, even with a brand new bag. We will stop buying for a while and start buy again later and that bag will be fine, but then it happens again. I am done buying Frigo cheese sticks at this point. I have never had an issue with Winco's brand. I am starting to wonder if my daughter was noticing the taste change too and that's why she stopped liking string cheese.
Wow I'm glad I'm not alone. I thought I was going crazy because some taste fine but some taste like dirt/mold although they look fine. My batch is 06SEP23S5 05:30 purchased from Costco.
Bought a pack at winco 05AUG23S2. One stick tasted fine, tried another and it tasted like it went sour along with a bad smell.
Although the outer bag was sealed perfectly almost half of the individual cheese stick packaging inside was opened or not sealed in some way or another. Some of those cheese sticks were hardened and obviously no good. One individual package that appeared sealed but loose was still moist but had discoloration and was spoiled upon further inspection.
Omg just now this happened to me. Immediately threw up. I checked my refrigerator because I thought a chemical or cleaning product got on it. So weird!
Opened a 24 pack from walmart that purchased a couple days ago and first one I get out of the bag tastes like dirt/ chemicals. The outer bag is printed with an exp date of 22JAN24 and the code under the exp date is L1-5. The individual stick packages are printed with code 15:05 L5 and 22JAN24C exp date. I will be buying other brands of string cheese after this.
Same, Tigard Or. Brand new bag from Costco. One stick tasted fine, the next like chemicals. Made my dog sick! How is this allowed?
They changed the product branding / wrappers and recipe and now the strong cheese isn’t stringy and tastes terrible. This change was made in Feb 2024
Also bought the 36 pack from Walmart and tasted like pure mold with a hint of rot! I will never buy this brand again. Made me sick, I wasn't sure if it was just the one stick so opened more and they are all sooo slimy! I wonder what the coating is. My kids say from now on they only trust the organic string cheeses I buy from the grocery store..
Bought 36 pack from Walmart, in Oregon. There's visible mold on the cheese