Rolf's Patisserie recall

Bakery Recalls Food After 100 Become Ill

A Lincolnwood wholesale and retail bakery has recalled all its food made since Nov. 1 after about 100 people who ate desserts from the business became ill in recent weeks, state health officials said.

State and federal investigators are looking into outbreaks in which people became ill after eating desserts from Rolf's Patisserie at a company event, a catered party, a restaurant and a holiday party, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Rolf's is voluntarily recalling products and working with the health department to put together a list of all businesses and other customers of Rolf's. Anyone who has bought food from Rolf's should throw it out.

Lab tests point to the baked goods being infected with high levels of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that produces toxins in foods that can make people ill. Anyone with a staph infection can contaminate food if they have an uncovered lesion or sore that comes in contact with food or food processing equipment, according to the department.

Staphyloccocal toxins can make someone sick in about a half-hour in some cases, and usually within about six hours. They can cause nasea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. Anyone who has eaten food from Rolf's should contact their doctor and local health officials.

gleam wrote:Anyone who has bought food from Rolf's should throw it out.

Kudos on the neutral thread title, but the review itself is pretty harsh.

Received this notice in my work e-mail yesterday:

December 11, 2011 - With deep regret Rolf's patisserie, Inc. announces the closing of its business in Lincolnwood, IL, effective immediately. Due to sharply higher operating costs, the cost of financing an expansion project and the inability to operationally meet the seasonal demands of our customers, we have made this difficult decision. We thank you for your patronage and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Oh no - I really liked their pastries and cake pops. I just bought a bunch at Whole Foods last week and never thought that would be my last chance to have Rolf's

Interesting, I just saw their trucks out over the weekend making deliveries.

Wow, I used to go to Rolf's when it was a storefront operation on Diversey near Clark. Their truffle cake was one of my favorite birthday treats back then. I am sorry to see them in so much trouble. Sometimes success is costly.

We had our wedding cake from there last October and yeah... we had over 50 people get sick.

Regardless, I enjoyed the cake and thought it tasted delicious and the whole situation reminds of the Iwan's Catering situation that happened in the late 90s.

d4v3 wrote:Wow, I used to go to Rolf's when it was a storefront operation on Diversey near Clark. Their truffle cake was one of my favorite birthday treats back then. I am sorry to see them in so much trouble. Sometimes success is costly.

I remember that store. The actual main bakery was on Central or Narragansett near Wellington in those days. They made our wedding cake, too. Fortunately, everyone enjoyed it and there were no side effects.

stevez wrote:

d4v3 wrote:Wow, I used to go to Rolf's when it was a storefront operation on Diversey near Clark. Their truffle cake was one of my favorite birthday treats back then. I am sorry to see them in so much trouble. Sometimes success is costly.

I remember that store. The actual main bakery was on Central or Narragansett near Wellington in those days.

Yeah, when I was thinking about it, I couldn't figure out how they fit a bakery in such as small space.

Well the staph couldn't have been in a baked cake, because the baking of the cake would have killed it. Must have been the frosting or filling.

razbry wrote:Well the staph couldn't have been in a baked cake, because the baking of the cake would have killed it. Must have been the frosting or filling.

I believe the Staph produces toxins that may not be rendered harmless by cooking.

LynnB wrote:Received this notice in my work e-mail yesterday:

December 11, 2011 - With deep regret Rolf's patisserie, Inc. announces the closing of its business in Lincolnwood, IL, effective immediately. Due to sharply higher operating costs, the cost of financing an expansion project and the inability to operationally meet the seasonal demands of our customers, we have made this difficult decision. We thank you for your patronage and we apologize for any inconvenience.

I can't tell from that message (which also appears on their website) whether that means (a) they are only closing their retail shop on Touhy, but will still provide pastry to their wholesale customers (e.g. Whole Foods), or (b) they are closing their entire company.

According to my barber - the wholesale operation is still running.

Dave148 wrote:According to my barber - the wholesale operation is still running.

That would make sense in light of this quote posted upthread:

Due to sharply higher operating costs, the cost of financing an expansion project and the inability to operationally meet the seasonal demands of our customers, we have made this difficult decision.

They weren't closing because of lack of business, they were closing because they couldn't afford to run a retail operation with only seasonal business. I'll bet they'll still be a player in the wedding cake arena, and I'm also betting on some of their cakes, etc. being sold at Whole Foods.

I'm feeling particularly cynical today, my first thought was " Oh boy, some Whole Foods bean counters are going to put the screws to them now!" I predict that WF will force Rolfs to sell at a lower price since they now have less distribution options and will be less able to afford the loss of WF's business.

Sadly, it looks like the employees really got the shaft (and right before Xmas).

http://triblocal.com/skokie/2012/01/10/ ... -jobs-pay/

Its a shame for the employees. I have never had any of their stuff directly from the stores. I have had stuff from whole food made by rolfs and have always been disappointed.

PortPkPaul wrote:Sadly, it looks like the employees really got the shaft (and right before Xmas).

http://triblocal.com/skokie/2012/01/10/ ... -jobs-pay/

at Trib Local Skokie, Jonathan Bullington wrote:In the latest troubles, a group of former workers is seeking certification of a federal class action lawsuit against the bakery on behalf of the roughly 150 former employees. They allege that their final paychecks bounced, forcing them to pay penalties.

“It’s an embarrassment to all of us to have banks and currency exchanges looking for our money,” Alvarez said.

The lawsuit also contends that bakery president Lloyd Culbertson and secretary Ford Culbertson failed to properly notify its workers of the closure, a violation of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — commonly known as the WARN Act.

Thank you, for posting that link. I'm really glad to know what is alleged to have happened, just in case Rolf's and I happen to cross paths in the future.

=R=

I just forwarded the article to a friend of mine, who told me sometime last month that got a call from Rolf's to cancel an order she made for a cake for a bridal shower for a friend. They gave no explanation or alternative. She just emailed me back saying that she got the call on Dec 10 when the shower was supposed to be on Dec 11. I guess that explains it!

It sounds to me like the outbreak of staph impacted their business very negatively. I do not think it was just higher operating costs. I think that when a business becomes contaminated with this it might have to make substantial changes in practices, cleaning and equipment and they may not have been prepared to do that. also many customers lost confidence or had to be turned away.

A friend of mine had to scramble at the last minute in December when their order for her son's wedding cake was cancelled by them.