Posted on 06/10/2014 2:47:14 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Gabe Luddy, fourth-generation cheesemaker at Vella Cheese Co. in Sonoma, makes his Dry Jack the same way his grandfather and great-grandfather did - he rolls and presses curds into large wheels of cheese, then brines and coats the wheels before sliding them onto wooden racks. There they age, from seven months to several years.
A U.S. Food & Drug Administration statement which became public last week puts this 83-year-old practice in doubt. In what the agency is calling a clarification, the FDA has declared that the wooden surfaces that cheesemakers around the world age cheeses on "cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized." If the ruling holds, it won't just affect Sonoma Jack. The the Parmagiano-Reggiano you grate over your pasta might also be illegal.
At issue is the interpretation of the FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations, which state, "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."
The cheese society's Weiser says her organization has been besieged by calls from cheesemakers, retailers and legislators.
Vella's Gabe Luddy is more blunt.
"We're talking about a crushing blow to the artisan cheese industry," he says. "For us replacing wood shelves would require a huge capital investment. I don't even know what we would switch to."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Maybe we need a law stating that regulators must know something about the industry they are regulating?
Hello, I’m the new head of the FDA, appointed by our new president. Please assemble everyone involved in the cheese decision in the auditorium. Then lock the doors, and burn the auditorium down.
There is a simple way to sterilize wood surfaces without harming the wood or causing any health threats. Make a diluted solution of Sodium Hypochlorite, say 10% to 15% and water, wash the wooden surface for one to two minutes, soaking it in well. Let the wood absorb the solution. The capillary action of the wood will "pipe" the diluted Sodium Hypochlorite solution down where any bacterial colonies may be growing. Rinse with fresh water if you wish, although this is not really necessary. This will kill ANY bacteria and viruses.
Where do you find Sodium Hypochlorite? You can usually find it in your laundry room. It is ordinary bleach. The best to use is the blue cap Clorox™ brand. Why blue cap? Because the blue cap indicates it is pure, with no perfume additives. Your dilute solution needs to be mixed every time you use it because it decomposes very rapidly, within minutes. The more dilute you make it, the faster it decomposes. The Sodium Hypochlorite in the Clorox™ bottle is already diluted, so when I refer to diluting it, we are speaking of diluting it from that solution.i.e. 1 part Clorox™ to 10 parts water.
(IMPORTANT: Be exceeding careful not to get this mixture on clothing or colored cloth as it will bleach it. Avoid getting on your skin as it will dissolve your skin. That's why bleach feels slimy. A one to twenty solution used in your WaterPik™ is an excellent way to clean your teeth and actually will dissolve plaque and kill any oral spirochetes, a cause of many diseases including Alzheimer's.)
The formula for Sodium HypoChlorite is NaCLO and when mixed with water, it rapidly decomposes by dropping off the Oxygen atom which forms O2 then mixes with free Hydrogen in the water to forms H2O2 + NaCl + O2. The H2O2 is unstable and decomposes further to H2O + O2. Some of the free Oxygen forms O3 — Ozone, which is one of the very best of anti-bacterial, anti-viral substances known. But O3 is unstable also. After the full disinfection and the decomposition of all these toxic but dilute chemicals, you are left with NaCl and H2O, Salt Water.
Cheese doesn’t kill, gov’t busybodies do.
Thanks Oldeconomybuyer.
Blessed are the cheesemakers.
I bought some blue cheese the other day. It was covered with mold. I wish the government would do something to protect me from myself.........;-)
I have never heard of anyone getting ill from cheese. These wooden shelves have the bacteria etc that help properly age these cheeses. Stainless steel shelving is quite expensive and unnecessary
I’ll bet the EU commies are not forcing such nonsense on their cheese makers
Can you say affirmative action dumping ground? Other incompetents too at $130,000 per year
Fed Government has way too much deadwood that needs pruning
Has there been a rash of cheese-borne illness? No? Sounds like big corporate money made its way into someone’s pockets so only their “cheese” meets the new standards. Until they outsource the cheesemaking to China.
LOL...that would be novel.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.