Cheese at landfill retrieved and sold: authority

Cheese previously dumped in a landfill has been taken and re-sold in the Waikato, New Zealand Food Safety says.

The authority said the Over The Moon branded cheese was taken from Putaruru Landfill and was reportedly being re-sold yesterday, despite it being unsafe to eat.

"We have serious concerns about the safety of this product given the company determined it was not suitable for sale and rightly disposed of it.

"Also, eating cheese that has been in a landfill for a period of time and out of the food supply chain carries very obvious food safety risks of contamination," NZFS deputy-director general Vincent Arbuckle said.

NZFS is warning people to not eat affected cheese if found and to call 0800 00 83 33.

The affected cheeses have the batch numbers 18.11.25, 25.11.25 and 26.11.25. They include:

• Camembert

• OMG

• Black Truffle Brie

• Galactic Gold

• Halloumi

• Gee's Spread (Black Truffle & Garlic Chilli flavours)

• Smoked Chilli Camembert

• Goat Camembert

• Double Delight

Over the Moon reported the issue to NZFS. 

The authority is not aware of any related illness.