Cultural Limits posted: " "Blessed are the cheesemakers...." Grab your
wine glass. This one is a doozy: Recently, the FDA inspected several New
York state cheesemakers and cited them for using wooden surfaces to age
their cheeses. The New York State Department of Agriculture " Respond to
this post by replying above this line
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<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/author/mynewpolitics/> FDA Cutting The
Cheese Obama Style
<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/fda-cutting-the-cheese-obama-style/>
by
Cultural Limits <http://mikesright.wordpress.com/author/mynewpolitics/>
[image: cheesemakers]
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*"Blessed are the cheesemakers...."*
Grab your wine glass. This one is a doozy:
Recently, the FDA inspected several New York state cheesemakers and cited
them for using wooden surfaces to age their cheeses. The New York State
Department of Agriculture & Markets’ Division of Milk Control and Dairy
Services, which (like most every state in the U.S., including Wisconsin),
has allowed this practice, reached out to FDA for clarification on the
issue. A response was provided by Monica Metz, Branch Chief of FDA’s Center
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s (CFSAN) Dairy and Egg Branch.
In the response, Metz stated that the use of wood for cheese ripening or
aging is considered an unsanitary practice by FDA, and a violation of FDA’s
current Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations
<http://joeforamerica.com/?s=regulation&lc=int_mb_1001>. Here’s an excerpt:
“Microbial pathogens can be controlled if food facilities engage in good
manufacturing practice. Proper cleaning and sanitation of equipment and
facilities are absolutely necessary to ensure that pathogens do not find
niches to reside and proliferate. Adequate cleaning and sanitation
procedures are particularly important in facilities where persistent
strains of pathogenic microorganisms like Listeria monocytogenes could be
found. The use of wooden shelves, rough or otherwise, for cheese ripening
does not conform to cGMP requirements, which require that “all plant
equipment and utensils shall be so designed and of such material and
workmanship as to be adequately cleanable, and shall be properly
maintained.” 21 CFR 110.40(a). Wooden shelves or boards cannot be
adequately cleaned and sanitized. The porous structure of wood enables it
to absorb and retain bacteria, therefore bacteria generally colonize not
only the surface but also the inside layers of wood. The shelves or boards
used for aging make direct contact with finished products; hence they could
be a potential source of pathogenic microorganisms in the finished
products.” SOURCE - Joe for America
<http://joeforamerica.com/2014/06/game-changer-fda-rules-wooden-boards-cheese-aging/#5GOV8RiSRKUMSPI6.01>
Porous structure of wood...cheese is not Eucharist - consecrated hosts or
Precious Blood - despite enthusiasts' assertions. Seriously. Who the hell
do they think they are kidding at the FDA?
Cheese has been aged on wood for millennia - not just years, but THOUSANDS
of years - in many places all over the world. It's part of what gives
cheese its flavor and texture. After all, it is fermented milk and cream.
Bacteria is part of the aging process.
As with the other knit-picking the FDA has done since Obama signed the Food
Safety Modernization Act in January of 2011, enforcement of
this...rule...is going to destroy individual American businesses:
While most cheesemakers have, perhaps, begrudgingly accepted most of what
has been coming down the FSMA pike, including the requirement of HACCP
plans and increased federal regulations
<http://joeforamerica.com/?s=regulation&lc=int_mb_1001> and inspections, no
one expected this giant regulation behemoth to virtually put a stop to
innovation in the American artisanal cheese movement.
Many of the most awarded and well-respected American artisan cheeses are
currently aged on wooden boards. American Cheese Society triple Best in
Show winner Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin is
cured on wooden boards. Likewise for award-winners Cabot Clothbound in
Vermont, current U.S. Champion cheese Marieke Feonegreek, and 2013 Best in
Show Runner-Up Bleu Mont Bandaged Cheddar.
*So, Kraft is getting shut out...are their profit margins suffering, too?*
For those of us who are not Velveeta eaters, this is just horrible news.
This means that domestic craft cheeses are just not going to be able to
compete with European. European cheese is good, but it is pricey over
here. Affording it will be out of the question.
As bad as this is for the cheese industry, consider some of the other foods
and food products that grow in and on natural surfaces:
- Beer - Is Budweiser's beechwood aging process out? What about the
caves under Pestalozzi Street where the brew is stored while it ferments?
Can't exactly clean the ceilings and the walls, but they are the perfect
temperature year round. (No coal-burning power plant emissions needed to
heat or cool them.)
- Bourbon - American whisky is aged in virgin oak casks which are then
exported to Ireland to age Irish whiskey. Does that make aging bourbon
unsanitary even if the final product is fairly high proof alcohol?
- Mushrooms - The FDA might well argue that since mushrooms are
technically a fungus, they should not be ingested. But seriously, the
spores - that's a mold - grow in caves. It's probably doable to invent a
facility that mimics the conditions, but that doesn't change that mushrooms
will come out of the package covered in dirt.
- Truffles - Note to the Obama administration: this is a tuber or root
and is an expensive delicacy even in Europe. Michelle, undoubtably, has
heard of them.
- Wine - Is nothing sacred? 1999 Oak barrel fermented Seyval is one of
the best Missouri wines of all time.
Then of course, there is the position that all milk should be
pasteurized...even that which is destined to become yogurt with live
cultures (bacteria) added. What about grilling boards for salmon and
bamboo kebab skewers? Stockpile while you can.
*You can't fix stupid.*
We the consumers of dairy products feel the cheese-makers' pain. This is
meddling on a level that is downright destructive.
Of all the laws to actually selectively enforce....
*Cultural Limits <http://mikesright.wordpress.com/author/mynewpolitics/>*
| June 9, 2014 at 5:37 pm | Tags: cabot
<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=cabot>, cheddar
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<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=cheese>, cheese-makers
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<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=fda>, Food and Drug Administration
<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=food-and-drug-administration>, monty
python <http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=monty-python>, obama regime
<http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?tag=obama-regime> | Categories: Liberal
"Logic" <http://mikesright.wordpress.com/?cat=5966946>, You Can't Make This
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