Courtesy | Aldi

After stainless steel fragments were discovered in the dairy product, Aldi voluntarily recalled all of its Happy Farms Colby Jack Cheese from locations in Michigan and three other states last month.

It’s the first time Happy Farms, the Aldi-owned brand that makes the cheese, has ever recalled a product. But it marks the 69th time Aldi has taken itmes off the shelves since 2018, with previous causes ranging from products being mislabeled to others being contaminated with salmonella.

The news made its way to the Hillsdale student body.

“It’s really disappointing to hear,” said freshman Gavin White, who said he regularly shops at Aldi. “I’ll probably be buying my dairy products elsewhere from now on.”

Aldi runs 114 locations in Michigan, including the new location in Hillsdale that opened March 13.

The Food and Drug Administration has since declared the recall a Class II Recall, an event where ingesting the recalled product could have minor adverse health effects on the body. Aldi did not respond to requests for comment.

“From time to time in the retail world, questions regarding a product’s quality or safety — or errors in its packaging or shipment — may arise,” a statement on Aldi’s website said. “On those rare occasions, ALDI has a plan to swiftly and effectively remove such products from the store.” 

Dan Zagzebski, CEO of the Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc., enacted the recall.

“A ‘pull-from-sale’ alert from either the manufacturer of the suspect product or our own Corporate Buying Department will trigger a rapid response plan for handling recalls,” Aldi said in a statement. “Products that do not meet ALDI or government standards in any of these areas will be efficiently and effectively removed from sale.”

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