Health officials examining cheese sold at Cheese Magic

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A Kensington Market cheese shop was closed down by Toronto Public Health following an investigation stemming from allegations that a customer got listeriosis from soft cheese purchased in the store.

The customer, a 32-year-old pregnant woman, said she bought the cheese at Cheese Magic at 182 Baldwin St., after which she became infected with the illness and passed it on to her baby.

Dr. Vinita Dubey, of Toronto Public Health, said the store was then given a full inspection and inspectors discovered some of the cheeses in the store were being stored at improper temperatures.

"As part of our investigation with cases of listeriosis, we do a history and find out where (the infected person) was at and the kinds of foods they ate," she said. "We went to the establishment where the woman purchased her cheese and found they were storing a number of cheeses at room temperature."

Dubey said three or four bags containing samples of cheese were taken, and will be tested for listeria bacterium in Health Canada labs. Those tests should be completed over the next week or two, she said.

"Right now, we can't link (the woman's) illness to the cheese," she said.

While Cheese Magic passed a routine health inspection in February, it was given a warning regarding the temperature at which it kept some of its cheeses last October. When health inspectors dropped by the store on Tuesday, they once again found some cheese was being kept at improper temperatures and proper procedures were not being followed to ensure food safety.

Cheese Magic owner Ping Chiu said a subsequent inspection led health inspectors to close her store down on Wednesday.

"They came in and said all these cheeses that I've been selling on my counters all these years had to be kept in coolers," she said. "They claimed the cheese was not at the right temperature.

Chiu had purchased new coolers earlier in the week after health inspectors told her the cheese had to be kept at 4 degrees Celsius or below, but the store owner said the health department shut her down as she was transferring her soft cheeses to the coolers.

Chiu added she was forced to throw out $1,000 worth of soft cheese and has had to pull several other products off her shelves.

"My guys had to throw out a lot of cheese, but we're waiting to hear from the health inspectors... if it was our cheese that caused (the customer's listeriosis,)" she said, adding she had heard Public Health had asked the customer in question to list where she had purchased her other food recently.

Chiu acknowledged she does sell one of two kinds of cheese linked to a listeriosis outbreak in Quebec, but said she takes precautions with her products.

Having heard the woman and her baby have recovered from their illness, Chiu remains hopeful the listeriosis infection is not linked to her store.

Regardless of the investigation's outcome, Cheese Magic has already been seriously impacted, with Chiu noticing a decrease in business since the customer's allegations first came out. The store owner added her business has been undeniably affected after having to get rid of a large amount of her product.

"There's been $1,000 of cheese thrown out and that's going to be my loss," she said.

She said she had contacted the health department and hoped to receive a pass on a follow-up health inspection over the next day or two.