chobani.JPG

Empty shelves with an out-of-stock notice about Chobani Greek yogurt greeted customers Tuesday at the Safeway on Southwest Jefferson Street in Portland.

(Dave Killen/The Oregonian)

has quietly pulled its Greek-style yogurt off store shelves in Oregon and across the country amid dozens of customer complaints about bloated containers, foul taste and illnesses.

The company, headquartered in New Berlin, N.Y., notified retailers Friday, telling them to pull 15 flavors. It did not issue a formal recall, however. Instead, it has been responding to customer complaints via

, asking people to email the company.

Amy Juaristi, a spokeswoman for Chobani, told The Oregonian on Tuesday that the problem was "a type of mold commonly found in the dairy environment."

She said only 5 percent of the company's yogurt had been contaminated with the mold and that all of the bad containers were produced at its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho.

She declined to provide details about where the suspect yogurt was sold. The company distributes nationally.

The potentially contaminated containers have expiration dates from Sept. 11 to Oct. 7 and are marked with the code 16-012, she said. The company will replace bad containers and advised consumers to email

.

Juaristi's explanation was the first from the company after a days-long mystery that has generated a stream of questions from customers. Some people said the yogurt had a metallic taste. Others complained about bloated containers.

Dahlyla Lang-Knight, a 36-year-old mother in Orchards, Wash., said two of her small children got sick after eating Chobani yogurt Thursday.

"I'm furious," Lang-Knight said. "I want them to take responsibility for this."

Food safety

She and other customers said they've notified the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA can force a recall, but it rarely uses that authority. Instead, the agency usually pressures businesses to pull their product and write a news release.

Lang-Knight had never consumed the brand until her husband brought some home last week. When she peeled the foil top off the containers, she noticed an odd texture but didn't think much about it.

Her 3-year-old daughter, a picky eater, ate about a third of the banana flavor and then put it down. "She said it was icky," Lang-Knight said.

Her 14-month-old gobbled up a vanilla yogurt. Lang-Knight tasted the lemon flavor. It was awfully tart but she figured that was the way it was supposed to taste.

Lang-Knight didn't get sick, but that evening her 3-year-old started vomiting. The next morning, her 14-month-old threw up in her car seat.

That day Lang-Knight popped into the same Albertsons where her husband bought the yogurt and noticed that Chobani containers had disappeared. In their place, were recall signs.

This container of Chobani yogurt started to bulge at the top and then bubble. Its expiration date is listed as Sept. 26 and its number is 16-012.

At home, a yogurt in her refrigerator swelled and started hissing. Her children developed diarrhea and have been sick ever since, she said.

Looking for answers, Lang-Knight checked the company's website, but found no mention of a problem on its home page. On its Facebook page she discovered she was not alone.

After posting a complaint, Chobani messaged her, asking her to email. Lang-Knight did that. She got a call from Bill Cook, Chobani's quality assurance manager, who promised, she said, to cover any medical expenses after she explained that her family did not have medical insurance. Lang-Knight's husband lost his job as a foreman at Oregon Iron Works two weeks ago.

"We'd have to pay out of pocket," Lang-Knight said.

But Cook didn't call back with details about payment so she called him Monday. He said he could not promise reimbursement, she said.

Victoria Maxwell, a 43-year-old in Denver, Colo., also got sick, saying she suffered vomiting and diarrhea for a day. She said she's felt odd ever since.

She, too, emailed the company. A man named Bill called her and suggested she ride it out, Maxwell said.

Calls to Cook seeking comment were not returned.

Maxwell wants an apology. She also vows to never buy Chobani again, once her favorite brand.

Maxwell and Lang-Knight said some of their complaints were deleted from Chobani's Facebook page.

"Once people started reporting getting sick, they didn't like those comments showing up so they started censoring that from their page," said Chris Gorski, a 23-year-old business student from Dallas, Texas, who also complained on the Facebook page.

Lang-Knight created a new page, Chobani Recall, to share information.

Juaristi said the company takes the problem seriously. "We are handling each and any report with a lot of care," she said.

Chobani has fixed its mold problem, she said. But she declined to say how it got in the yogurt in the first place.

-- Lynne Terry