1.5 million bags of shredded cheese have been recalled.

The recall was initiated in early October by Great Lakes Cheese Co., an Ohio-based company, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The voluntary recall covered more than 260,000 cases of shredded cheese, and was prompted by the possibility of metal fragments in the products, an FDA notice said.

Shredded cheeses included in the recall, e.g. low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, Aldi Italian-style shredded cheese, Italian-style shredded cheese blend, Food Club finely shredded pizza-style four-cheese blend, mozzarella and mild cheddar cheese blend, mozzarella and non-smoked provolone, and Good & Gather mozzarella and parmesan cheese blend.

The products have sell-by dates ranging from January to late March of next year, according to the FDA notice. The agency has a complete list online of the affected products and their UPC codes.

The affected shredded cheese products came in five different varieties and were sold under a host of brand names at Target, Walmart, Aldi and other major retailers [Food City, Food Lion, etc.] across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The FDA says they were distributed to 31 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin; as well as Puerto Rico.

Return it to the store or throw it away.