Dairy-lovers everywhere were shaken earlier this month when a new investigation revealed that unlawfully high amounts of wood pulp was turning up in cheeses across the country, particularly parmesan cheese. The pulp, which in this case is cellulose used as an anti-clumping agent in many cheeses that claimed to be 100% pure parm, had many of us wondering if our spaghetti bolognese would pair best with cedar, spruce, oak, or pine.
Now, some of the purveyors responsible for the no Gouda cheese have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, and may even do time in jail. Food Safety Network reports that Michelle Myrter of Castle Cheese Co. pleaded guilty in a Pennsylvania U.S. District Court for "aiding and abetting the introduction of adulterated and misbranded cheese products into interstate commerce, in violation of provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act." Myrter is the daughter of Castle Cheese CEO George Myrter. She was released on bond and could face up to one year in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Criminal charges were filed against Myrter and two companies (Universal Cheese & Drying Inc. and International Packing LLC) back in October 2015. Myrter's own Castle Cheese Co. went bankrupt last year.
The story of wood pulp hiding out in piles of parm was in the news earlier this month after Bloomberg published an extensive story on the FDA's investigations of a rural Pennsylvania plant, which happened to be owned by Castle Cheese. In that report, an industry insider estimated that 20% of hard cheese production in the U.S. is fraudulently labeled, and in the case of some cheeses, "less than 40 percent of the product was actually a cheese product."
