Fighting for Cheese

Dairy Foods, May, 2001

In the dairy industry, pasteurization is generally considered a desirable practice, allowing fresh milk to be sold and consumed far from the farm. But the American Cheese Society--a group of artisan cheesemakers, distributors and chefs--believes pasteurization is unnecessary and even a hindrance to making great cheese, so it's fighting to preserve the rights of cheesemakers to use unpasteurized milk.

The current U.S. law on cheesemaking, which has been in place for 50 years, requires pasteurization only for cheeses that are aged less than 60 days. Since raw milk cheese is usually aged several months or even years before it is brought to market, ACS supports the current law. But due in part to efforts to expand global cheese trade, the Food and Drug Administration is rethinking the issue and may seek a longer aging period or a prohibition on raw milk cheese.

A blanket prohibition would lower the quality bar on many styles of cheeses including Gruyere and traditional Cheddar, says Kathleen Shannon Finn, president of the American Cheese Society.

"In the United States before World War II, much of our cheese-making industry centered on the use of unpasteurized milk," Finn says. "It allows cheesemakers to make cheese with flavor profiles unattainable with pasteurized milk."

Last March ACS teamed with the Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust to form the Cheese of Choice Coalition. The coalition has been circulating petitions in support of maintaining the current law, and it is planning a scientific symposium to explore the issue further.

Pasteurization kills micro-bacteria such as Listeria that can lead to food borne illnesses. But it also kills the micro-flora that help cheese develop its flavor during fermentation. ACS argues that modern sanitation and HAACP programs allow cheesemakers to make safe, flavorful cheese using raw milk.