Mar. 5—A former Walton raw milk cheese manufacturer and his company pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in federal court Tuesday after the cheese was linked to a listeriosis outbreak.

According to a media release from the Department of Justice, Johannes Vulto, 64, and Vulto Creamery LLC, the company Vulto founded and owned, each pleaded guilty to one count of causing the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce, relating to the sale and distribution of cheese that was linked to a 2016-2017 outbreak of listeriosis, the disease caused by the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Listeriosis is a severe, invasive illness that can be life-threatening in some cases.

Testing done at the creamery between July 2014 and February 2017 repeatedly tested positive for Listeria species, the release said. The Listeria family includes both harmless species and L. monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis in humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration linked Vulto Creamery’s cheese to an outbreak of listeriosis in March 2017. Vulto shut down the facility and issued a partial recall that was expanded to a full recall within weeks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the listeriosis outbreak resulted in eight hospitalizations and two deaths.

Vulto admitted that he oversaw operations at the manufacturing facility in Walton, including those relating to sanitation and environmental monitoring, the release said. Vulto and Vulto Creamery both admitted that between December 2014 and March 2017, they caused the shipment in interstate commerce of adulterated cheese.

The charge to which Vulto pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison, a term of supervised release of up to one year, and a fine of up to $250,000, the release said. The charge to which Vulto Creamery pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of probation and a maximum fine of up to $500,000. Vulto and Vulto Creamery will be sentenced on July 9, by United States Magistrate Judge Thérèse Wiley Dancks.

Further information about the case will be posted under “Information for Victims in Large Cases” at the Consumer Protection Branch’s website: https://tinyurl.com/3zx8bza8.