{"id":29744,"date":"2017-03-13T13:35:49","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T17:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=29744"},"modified":"2019-07-30T13:17:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T17:17:23","slug":"truth-raw-milk-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the culture<\/b> staff saw the news of the Vulto Creamery cheese recall<\/a> caused by listeria contamination last year, we were heartbroken for the consumers who lost their lives; for the cheesemaker\u2019s business and livelihood now at risk; and for members of the cheese community in the US, who have worked tirelessly to ensure food safety in their products. We\u2014like many cheesemakers, distributors, and retailers around the country\u2014are concerned that this incident will unfairly cause people to perceive artisan cheese as an unsafe product.<\/p>\n

After reading media coverage that contributed to this misguided notion, we thought it would be helpful for people to read a little further about where the risks lie in terms of food safety and cheese.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t confuse raw fluid milk and raw-milk cheese.<\/b> The milk you pick up in the grocery store has been pasteurized\u2014heat treated to kill off bacteria both \u201cbad\u201d (i.e. pathogens like listeria and salmonella) and \u201cgood.\u201d This extends shelf life and improves food safety. Raw milk has not been pasteurized. It\u2019s not sterile but is full of microorganisms prized by cheesemakers for their ability to transform into flavor and aroma compounds. It carries inherent risk but once raw milk is transformed into cheese, the risk factor goes down. See #2.<\/p>\n

2. Raw-milk cheese made according to established protocols is safe.<\/b> In the US, cheese made with raw milk must be aged for 60 days before it is sold to consumers. When some types of cheese (such as low-moisture, cooked curd styles like Gruyere) mature, they become more acidic and lose much of their moisture, creating an environment where listeria and other pathogens are less likely to thrive. In soft-ripened cheese, though, the cheese retains more moisture and the pH rises<\/a> during aging (resulting in a less acidic product); both of these factors can lead to increased risk of pathogen growth during ripening. Either way, cheesemakers in the US have worked with the Food and Drug Administration to create and adhere to many food safety protocols<\/a>\u2014sanitation processes, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans, pathogen controls, testing\u2014all along the production chain to ensure a safe product.<\/p>\n

3. Milk isn\u2019t necessarily the source of contamination.<\/b> Raw milk doesn\u2019t come out of an animal already tainted with listeria. The pathogen could find its way into the milk via an infected udder or elsewhere in the environment. But once the milk is transformed into cheese, contamination<\/a> can happen in any number of ways. These include dampness in an aging facility, handling practices, or cross-contamination from an infected employee. This is important to note: the risk of contamination isn\u2019t exclusive to raw milk. It\u2019s possible throughout the production process, which means that all cheese (especially soft cheese, since it has a higher moisture content) carries a certain amount of risk.<\/p>\n

4. Listeria contamination in cheese is relatively rare.<\/b> When the FDA conducted a survey<\/a> of more than 1,600 raw-milk cheeses for different common food-borne pathogens in 2014, only 10 samples, or 0.62 percent, were found to have listeria. Among those, five were domestic cheeses. However, listeria does have a high fatality rate<\/a> (the proportion of deaths within the confirmed cases of the disease): nearly 20 percent compared to 0.5 percent in salmonella.<\/p>\n

5. Other foods can harbor listeria, too.<\/b> Although listeria outbreaks have been reduced over the past 20 years due to closer regulatory oversight, we\u2019ve seen outbreaks<\/a> in cantaloupes, packaged caramel apples, and bean sprouts in recent years. Again, it\u2019s a reminder that raw milk itself is not necessarily the culprit in listeria outbreaks.<\/p>\n

We visited<\/a> Vulto\u2019s creamery last year and were moved not only by his personal story, but by his drive to learn and improve his craft to the point that a side project could become his main focus over the course of just a few years. He is one of hundreds of artisan cheesemakers creating unique and delicious cheese in this country. As food safety records show, consuming most foods comes with a degree of risk<\/a> that consumers must weigh. Knowing how diligent the cheesemaking industry has been in ensuring food safety, our hope is that consumers will continue to support domestic cheesemakers, and make fully informed risk assessments when doing so.<\/p>\n

A previous version of this article indicated that cheese becomes acidic and loses moisture during aging; this is not the case for all cheeses. Also, the article had previously noted that pathogens such as listeria cannot survive in cheese aged for 60 days or longer; however, it is possible for these pathogens to be present.<\/em><\/p>\n

Feature Photo Credit: Gregory Cherin<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Got questions about raw-milk curds? We explain the process and protocols cheesemakers follow and examine listeria contamination in cheese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":30086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12691,18340,851,18341,1962,4920,18339,1326,18343,18342,15291,18338],"coauthors":[718],"class_list":["post-29744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-contamination","tag-food-and-drug-administration","tag-gruyere","tag-hazard-analysis-and-critical-control-points","tag-leigh-belanger","tag-listeria","tag-pasteurized","tag-raw-milk-cheese","tag-risk","tag-salmonella","tag-vulto-creamery","tag-what-is-raw-milk-cheese"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Got questions about raw-milk curds? We explain the process and protocols cheesemakers follow and examine listeria contamination in cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/leigh.belanger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-13T17:35:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-30T17:17:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"6144\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3830\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leigh Belanger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leigh Belanger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/\",\"name\":\"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese - culture: the word on cheese\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-13T17:35:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-30T17:17:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/bb4282cb8f973d11ca71eeba140ff1ea\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg\",\"width\":6144,\"height\":3830,\"caption\":\"Cheese rounds that have inoculated with mold and curing in the aging room to produce Chapel\u2019s Country Creamery, \u201cBay Blue\u201d cheese. The dairy produces hand crafted artisanal cheeses with fresh raw milk produced on the dairy\u2019s Grade A dairy farm in Easton, Maryland. The dairy\u2019s grass fed Jersey and Holstein cows produce high quality milk, rich in cream. The milk is all natural and contains no synthetic hormones, antibiotics, or chemical compounds. They mentioned that by producing our own cheese from start to finish, we insure the highest quality possible. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\",\"name\":\"culture: the word on cheese\",\"description\":\"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/bb4282cb8f973d11ca71eeba140ff1ea\",\"name\":\"Leigh Belanger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/48466301cf1a7d064a0a088d8df5f509\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Leigh_profpic-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Leigh_profpic-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Leigh Belanger\"},\"description\":\"Leigh Belanger is culture's former food editor. She's been a food writer, editor, and project manager for over a decade\u2014 serving as program director for Chefs Collaborative and contributing to local newspapers and magazines. Her first book, The Boston Homegrown Cookbook, was published in 2012. She lives and cooks in Boston with her family.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/leigh.belanger\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/leigh-belanger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese - culture: the word on cheese","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese","og_description":"Got questions about raw-milk curds? We explain the process and protocols cheesemakers follow and examine listeria contamination in cheese","og_url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/","og_site_name":"culture: the word on cheese","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/leigh.belanger","article_published_time":"2017-03-13T17:35:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-30T17:17:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":6144,"height":3830,"url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Leigh Belanger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leigh Belanger","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/","name":"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese - culture: the word on cheese","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-13T17:35:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-30T17:17:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/bb4282cb8f973d11ca71eeba140ff1ea"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9733481503_8dd729b9e2_o.jpg","width":6144,"height":3830,"caption":"Cheese rounds that have inoculated with mold and curing in the aging room to produce Chapel\u2019s Country Creamery, \u201cBay Blue\u201d cheese. The dairy produces hand crafted artisanal cheeses with fresh raw milk produced on the dairy\u2019s Grade A dairy farm in Easton, Maryland. The dairy\u2019s grass fed Jersey and Holstein cows produce high quality milk, rich in cream. The milk is all natural and contains no synthetic hormones, antibiotics, or chemical compounds. They mentioned that by producing our own cheese from start to finish, we insure the highest quality possible. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/truth-raw-milk-cheese\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Truth About Raw-Milk Cheese"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/","name":"culture: the word on cheese","description":"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/bb4282cb8f973d11ca71eeba140ff1ea","name":"Leigh Belanger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/48466301cf1a7d064a0a088d8df5f509","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Leigh_profpic-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Leigh_profpic-96x96.jpg","caption":"Leigh Belanger"},"description":"Leigh Belanger is culture's former food editor. She's been a food writer, editor, and project manager for over a decade\u2014 serving as program director for Chefs Collaborative and contributing to local newspapers and magazines. Her first book, The Boston Homegrown Cookbook, was published in 2012. She lives and cooks in Boston with her family.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/leigh.belanger"],"url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/leigh-belanger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29744"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}