Owner of NY Cheese Operation Sentenced for 2016/2107 Listeria Outbreak

The owner of a NY cheese company was sentenced this week for his company's failure to protect product from Listeria contamination which resulted in an Listeria outbreak in 2016 thru 2017.  This outbreak resulted in the death of two people and hospitalization of two others.

Vulto Creamery of Walton, NY has been shut down.  The recall was initiated in March of 2017 and then expanded to include all raw milk cheese a few weeks later.  FDA issued a report of the investigation of the facility in April of 2017.  A summary of the FDA findings includes:

• LM was all over the plant, on food contact equipment, and on product.
• While the plant did testing and found Listeria species, they did NOTHING beyond re-clean the area. They did not do follow-up testing nor did they try to determine where the Listeria was coming from, whether is was LM, or whether it impacted product.
• They followed poor sanitary practices including not properly washing hands
• Poor cleaning of facility and equipment
• Poor design and maintenance of the facility

Johannes Vulto, founder and owner of Vulto Creamery LLC based in Walton, was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, along with 240 hours of mandated community services.

Binghamtonhomepage.com
https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/delaware-county/vulto-creamery-founder-sentenced-for-deadly-cheese/
Vulto Creamery founder sentenced for deadly cheese
by: Spencer Gustafson
Posted: Jul 9, 2024 / 04:23 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 9, 2024 / 05:20 PM EDT

SYRACUSE, NY (WIVT/WBGH) — The long-lasting court saga related to a 2016-2017 listeriosis outbreak from a local raw milk cheese manufacturer has come to its conclusion.

Johannes Vulto, founder and owner of Vulto Creamery LLC based in Walton, was sentenced in federal court on July 9 for his and the company’s connection to a listeriosis outbreak from the cheese produced by Vulto in 2016 and 2017 that resulted in the death of two people and the hospitalization of eight others.

Vulto, 64, pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of causing the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce back in March for the sale and distribution of raw cheese that contained the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Listeriosis, in some cases, can cause fevers, flu-like symptoms and even seizures.

Today, Vulto was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, along with 240 hours of mandated community services. Vulto Creamery LLC, which no is no longer in service, was sentenced to one year probation.

“This investigation and prosecution hold accountable the defendant and his business who through unsafe practices caused illness and death to consumers in an entirely preventable tragedy,” U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman said following the initial plea agreement in March, 2024.