America’s artisan cheesemakers have fought several David-versus-Goliath battles with the FDA in recent years. The agency has threatened to ban aging on wooden shelves, to outlaw ash in cheese (that pretty gray ripple in Humboldt Fog) and to implement unattainable standards for raw-milk cheese. The FDA is supposed to protect public health, but there’s little science to support these proposals.
Read moreMilk Pleads Its Case
Is “cashew cheese” cheese? Is “almond milk” milk? The FDA wanted our opinion but the public comment period just closed. Not to worry. More than twelve thousand people weighed in on whether plant-based foods like soy milk should be allowed to keep their dairy-referencing names. Cheese has a standard of identity—a government-policed definition—and cashew brie does not meet it. Is it time for the FDA to step in and insist that “milk” and “cheese” are dairy products? Or is the dairy industry overreaching in arguing that consumers are confused?
Read moreBack in Action
Three years ago, one of France’s most respected affineurs stopped shipping his sublime cheeses to the U.S. Pascal Beillevaire was a cheese-world rock star, his wares selling briskly here and at his 20 shops in France. Then, in mid-2014, the FDA put the entire line on Import Alert, along with cheeses from several other European producers. The banned cheeses, tested on entry, had failed to clear the FDA’s high bar.
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It’s Official: Time for Cheese
Although every month is American Cheese Month at my house, October is officially American Cheese Month. Why October? I have no clue, but your local cheese shop is probably using the opportunity to showcase more domestic selections than usual. Go buy something you’ve never tried.
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