French Camembert made with raw milk |
The ACS Responds to Inaccuracies from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
We’ve posted many articles in the last three years (since we started this blog) about the raw vs pasteurized debate in this country and our concerns about it.
It is the nature of our business to support small farmers and artisan cheese makers and we have seen them bravely fight an uphill battle against unfair government regulations.
The issue we’re discussing in this article is raw milk cheese. All over the world and for over a thousand years, raw
milk cheeses have been consumed successfully. Who hasn’t enjoyed the
cheeses of France and Italy while on vacation there? But, here, in the
US, raw milk cheese may only be sold after it has been aged for 60 days
or more.
Fresh Sicilian sheep’s milk cheese |
The American Cheese Society officially supports this law. However, lately, the CDC doesn’t seem to understand the difference between raw milk and raw milk cheese. They also fail to differentiate between raw milk cheese that has been aged for 60 days (legal) and raw milk cheese that hasn’t been (illegal). To lump the two together and make statements about their safety is inaccurate and irresponsible.
We are proud members of The American Cheese Society and Ricki (our Cheese Queen) has been an active member since it was founded in 1983. It is hardly a radical organization. It represents large and small producers of all kinds of cheeses.
So, in our opinion, it’s a sad day when the ACS has to take issue with some of the misinformation released by the CDC. The following letter was sent to members last week:
Linda Wightman (SursumCorda) says
The insanity of our food situation sometimes makes me glad our daughter lives 4500 miles away in a country where raw milk is legal (and raw milk cheese considered a staple of human existence). On the other hand, homeschooling is not legal there. It's funny how countries that each pride themselves on their freedoms find some (different) basic human rights that are "just too important" to be left up to We the People.