An inspection at a dairy company in Spain has found serious issues meaning items made there could pose a risk to the public, according to authorities.

Officials from the Ministry of Health in Galicia, a region of Spain, informed the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) of a series of breaches they called serious that were detected during official controls at the company Lácteos Casa Macán S.L.

AESAN said the detected breaches mean the safety of products made there, which include butter and cheese, cannot be guaranteed.

The findings prompted authorities in Galicia to provisionally suspend activities at the firm, seize existing products at the company and order the withdrawal from distribution of all products sold.

All batches of the different Casa Macán products such as manteca cocida de vaca, queso D.O. Arzúa Ulloa, queso D.O. Tetilla, queso D.O. Arzúa Ulloa curado, queso barra Costeño and queso gallego en lonchas are affected by the alert.

Issues found included failures in the structural, hygienic and operational conditions of production processes, non-compliance in storage, and traceability deficiencies, according to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) in Spain.

Authorities urged people who have the implicated products not to consume them and to return them to the point of purchase. No reports of illness associated with the alert have been confirmed in Spain.

Based on information available so far, the affected dairy products were distributed in Galicia, Catalonia and Castilla-La Mancha.

The information was sent by AESAN to all communities through the Coordinated System for the Rapid Exchange of Information (SCIRI), to continue the withdrawal of affected products from the market.

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