It seems that our federal government likes banning cheeses. First it required that Brie be aged 60 days, which “effectively outlawed true Brie” from the United States. Then came restrictions on Mimolette requiring no more than six cheese mites per square inch, “a near impossible standard”. Now comes a rule banning cheeses ripened on wooden boards.
In all three of these cases, the supposed justification is food safety. In all three cases, it’s bogus. The French, for instance, have eaten wood-aged cheese for centuries without any indication that it harms anyone. They’ve eaten Mimolette with cheese mites in it too. And we all know that the French are ridiculously healthy. But never mind. The FDA grinds on in its cheese-banning ways.
I say that it’s time to stand and fight for our right to cheese. And not jut cheese. The government is attacking our food rights in all kinds of ways, such as restrictions on the use of manure that make it almost impossible for organic farms to use the stuff as fertilizer. They say, once again, that it’s about food safety, but it’s bullshit (literally and figuratively.)
The government, through its subsidies, fills our stores and restaurants with gallons of high fructose corn syrup and big lump of fatty meat. Meanwhile its “food safety” regulations gradually steal away the alternatives, driving small farms and small producers out of business. The French may be cheese-eating surrender monkeys, but Americans need to stop being cheese-surrendering eat monkeys. It’s time to fight for our cheesy rights.
Cheese mites are microscopic little bugs that live on the surfaces of aged cheeses, munching the microscopic molds that grow there. For many aged cheeses, they’re something of an industry nuisance, gently brushed off the cheeses. But for Mimolette, a bright orange French cheese, they’re actually encouraged.
The mites munch on the rind for a few years and then are removed — usually with a blast of compressed air and a bit of hand-brushing — before Mimolette is sold. But there are always a few hiding behind.
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But in the 21st century, do we need a cheese ban? Microbiologist Rachel Dutton runs a cheese lab at Harvard University, and we checked in with her about the dangers of mites. Dutton notes that there have been some reports of mite allergies, but they seem to be restricted to people who have come into contact with large numbers of mites.
And Dutton says that while we may not like to think about bugs, they’re a part of what makes cheese so delicious.
“Cheese is absolutely alive,” Dutton laughs. And all of that life — the molds, bacteria, yeasts and mites — help make cheese what it is. Dutton says that the mites on Mimolette can contribute flavors of their own (they have a somewhat earthy smell), and by eating into the rind, they can also increase aeration — and the surface area in which the other microbes can do their work.
I gotta agree with the OP. If we allow people to smoke, I don’t see why we can’t allow them to eat cheese that crawls away on its own if they want to. Put big red labels that say “If you eat this you will die” sure, but let my have some unpasteurized stilton and I will die happy.
I don’t want to ban stuff, but I would greatly appreciate if food that is a listeria risk is clearly labeled as such- especially in situation restaurants where you have no way to know if the chef is using pasteurized cheeses or some shady artisanal cheese from the farmers market. Listeria is a real
thing. It’s not particularly worrisome some for most people, but it has a particular effect of killing fetuses. And artisanal dairy is the easiest way to get it.
Probably the most distressing part is that it has a long incubation period, so it’s not like you can just wait a week and you’ll be in the clear. Nor can you preemptively treat it if you think you may have been exposed. They can’t treat it until you are symptomatic, and the symptoms are non-specific (especially for pregnant people who are fatigued and nautious in general) so it’s easy to miss.
Pregnancy is tough enough without worrying that the lunch you at a month ago could cause a miscarriage.
As much as I loves my cheeses (including the stinky, exotic ones) I am not a fan of Listeria. My very first case as an intern was one of an elderly gent with listeria meningitis, and I labored mightily for days to keep him alive.
My solution: Cheese with red warning labels: “This cheese may kill you, so enjoy it!”
I’m fine with cheese mites, myself. In america we don’t eat enough bugs. We evolved to eat bugs, people! A true paleo diet would be at least 1/3 bugs!! I just choose to get mine via cheese, lobsters, and crab.
Did you mean what percent of the good stuff? Because most of the cheese sold in the US is hardly deserving of the name…
But still, does it matter if it’s only 1% and the regulation isn’t needn’t? Shouldn’t whether or not the regulation is needed be the only question of concern in this debate? We can argue in a different thread whether or not we have bigger cheese to fry, but here we’re asking whether or not this regulation is needed. The OP clearly states that he thinks this is an issue affecting “small farms and small producers”.
What are “cheese mites” and why should be tolerate any in cheese? Let’s not go all 