FDA bans French Mimolette cheese

I could also have put this in USA political madness but was not sure. Hi Mods, if you think it should be moved??

To all of you cheese lovers out there and especially to our cousins in the USA who like to pop down to the local deli for a nice wedge of Mimolette cheese... No longer can you savour it :



First of all, lets learn about how Mimolette is made :

The Mimolette is a most unusual cheese, spherical like an Edam but with a rough moon-like surface and a bright orange interior. It resembles a melon when cut open.

The cheese originated in Holland and is made in a similar way to Edam. It is believed to have been introduced to France when Flanders was a part of that country. Some believe that in the 17th century the French minister Colbert forbade the importation of foreign goods, including cheese, and so the French began making it for themselves. It is now made in Flanders and also in other parts of France, particularly Brittany, and it is often known as 'Boule de Lille'. The name Mimolette derives from 'mi-mou' meaning 'half-soft'. The name Boule de Lille derives from a ripening cellar in the city of Lille, where the cheese was originally matured.

More here : www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk...

And this is what the FDA have done :

France Furious Over U.S. Ban on Mimolette Cheese

July 5, 2013

Indignation is growing among cheese-lovers in France and the US after Washington branded a type of French cheese as unfit for human consumption.

The US government slapped an import ban on mimolette cheese at the end of May, leaving 1.5 tonnes of the item impounded at a warehouse.

More here : reason.com...

And this :

After more than a tonne of mimolette cheese has been held up in customs for 3 months, US officials have effectively banned the French speciality, calling it “putrid” and “unfit for food.”

The move comes days after France furiously reacted to revelations the US spied on its embassy in Washington.

The US Food and Drug Administration says its inspectors found too many cheese mites per square inch crawling on the cheese, raising allergy concerns.

Link here : rt.com...

What can i say?

Have the FDA not also thought about banning nearly every type of cheese and yoghurt not made in the USA under "sterile" standards so to speak?

Hmmm what else can they ban so that the US Gvt can play their idiotic childish revenge games because François Hollande threatened to call off "Free Trade" talks because of the NSA bugging the French Embassy in Washington?

Sorry folks, looks like you are going to have to stick to that cheese in a tube for a while

Bon appetit

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Originally posted by Rodinus
The US government slapped an import ban on mimolette cheese ...

Not sure if that actually happened.

Yes, there is a Import Refusal Report, and yes, it has the description in the article...

but
its not clear to me if "mimolette cheese" is banned, or merely that specific import batch from that specific importer on that specific date.

Could anyone clear up this rather important point?

Edit - searching elsewhere for not-outrage sensationalist news sources, find this article from a real journalist at the washington post, who goes into a bit of background.

Agency officials say there is no official “ban” and they have not issued import alerts that would prevent shipments from entering the country if they meet safety standards.
The agency also said that it has “no established levels” for the maximum number of mites allowed on cheese and that inspectors evaluate import samples on a case-by-case basis.

reply to post by alfa1



Oh, sorry all other journalists especially foreign (the links i added were Australian and Russian) are unreal and only Washington post journalists are non-outrage sensationalist news sources.

Which sources will you allow me to choose Alfa In your opinion?

If you cared to read one of the links i added right through until the end, you would find nearly the same quote as you cited in your post.

I linked different sources on purpose in order to give a fairly neutral POV (i invite you to read both links thoroughly) and especially did not link French sources as this is where i live and didn't want to come across as close minded.

Here we go again!!!!

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Originally posted by Rodinus


The US Food and Drug Administration says its inspectors found too many cheese mites per square inch crawling on the cheese, raising allergy concerns.

Cheese mites???? Hmmmm. Maybe you could just take some Edam, breed a bunch of baby spiders and throw them on the Edam. Maybe the taste of the baby spider guts will make the Edam taste more like mimolette??
Obviously, I kid -- but cheese mites just sounds gross to me. Sorry.

reply to post by Rodinus


Dude, youre going to hate me for saying this. but as soon as I googled cheese mites? You lost me. dammit I had no idea, mites were on cheese! and I love cheese! I put cheese on cheese! I would eat a cheese sammich, with extra slices of cheese and side of chips made of cheese with tabasco!... and now my cheese is "mitey?"

dammit is nothing sacred? My cheese is mitey!? is it just this type of cheese? or do I have to dump every cheese there is? Mitey cheese! &*%&^$ $#%$#@^%# and (*& ^&# *^&*^ %))) throws coffee cup across the room.Im scarred for life I think. O.o

Ok Im done. How does this cheese taste anyway?

@ US we banned orange mitey cheese. I can just imagine some chick working with the FDA with a weak stomache seeing this under a microscope for the first time saying uhm... *&^% that! this is not going on any shelf.

Cheese mites don't bother me. Dust mites live on your skin, hell they feed on your skin.

I made gravy with flour that had weevils in it once. Saw the weevils after the gravy was cooking. I didn't have any other flour, so I ate it. I didn't taste any different with weevils in it.

reply to post by butcherguy


As a wideWISE man on ATS once said:

"Never invite me to your house for dinner!"

Oo

Weevles.. WEEVLES. My god man, I might not mind a mite, but weevles?

reply to post by Nephalim



It actually has roughly the same taste as Gouda, Edam or a light Cheddar.

BUT, and this is where the story just doesn't hold, is that normally cheese is placed in a fridge, thus killing the miroscopic mites which are ONLY found on the outside of the rind.

And what do you do when eating this type of cheese?... Take the rind off!



And the even WORST thing about it is that cheese mites are not only found on Mimolette but a whole variety of other cheeses too :

Cheese mites are invisible to the naked eye, but when clustered together look like very fine brownish dust. If you brush the "dust" off the rind of a wheel of cheese and a few hours later the "dust" has moved its location, you know the cheese has been infested by mites. The same type of mites are also attracted to flour and grains.

cheese.about.com...

I invite you all to read this link

BUT, don't forget that you can find worse things in your bed, skin, up your nose, on the keyboard, door handles, pens etc... So who cares about a few extra mites per cm2 on a lump of cheese!?

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Originally posted by butcherguy
Cheese mites don't bother me. Dust mites live on your skin, hell they feed on your skin.

I made gravy with flour that had weevils in it once. Saw the weevils after the gravy was cooking. I didn't have any other flour, so I ate it. I didn't taste any different with weevils in it.

Man, that is gross

But then again, once they are cooked...!

Beat this : when i was in the army i did a Swiss survival course and ate... earthworms... yum yum

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Next thing we will see is "Mimolette Type" cheese made in USA in the markets, fully approved by FDA. It will be cheaper, RBST and artificially flavored and colored. It won't have mites problems due all the chemicals added. Monsanto will have a benefit from all this.

Mimolette cheese is beautiful and yummy cheese, have a few "foodie" friends and family that enjoy serving it on cheese and fruit platters. Very popular in the wine country in CA, USA.

I'm not sure the motives for banning this cheese, and could have lived without the cheese mite lesson, but let's get real, does anyone really believe with all of the poison and God knows what is allowed in our food supply that the FDA really cares about our health?

If this is motivated in any way to snub the French it is vindictive, and goes right after the "heart" of an important part of French culture, fine foods....very nasty indeed.......

My understanding is the French have been quite outspoken and effective in keeping Monsanto out of their country, and we all know what big "buddies" the FDA are with Monsanto....could this be in play here at all?

Originally posted by Trueman
Next thing we will see is "Mimolette Type" cheese made in USA in the markets, fully approved by FDA. It will be cheaper, RBST and artificially flavored and colored. It won't have mites problems due all the chemicals added. Monsanto will have a benefit from all this.

Terrible isn't it...

My French parents in-law have a vineyard and sell over 80,000 bottles of wine a year.

I would love the FDA to come over and audit all vineyard owners in September when they are harvesting the grapes.

Earwigs and vinegar flies (Drospohiles) are attracted to the fermenting grapes in the vats and even after filtering there are still remnents in the wine (In all wine from anywhere in fact!)

So, next time you are sipping on that nice glass of Cabernet think about how many earwigs have piddled in it

Definately won't stop me from enjoying my wine!

And i won't go into what you find in most cocoa beans before they are turned into chocolate

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by Rodinus


Slightly off topic, but I was in a bar that served a drink (Grey Goose vodka with club soda) to me with ants in it. After he poured it, I saw him picking something off the top. I asked what it was that he was doing, he said, there are ants in the ice'.
They were little black ants that showed up nicely in the ice. He served it up to me anyway, and there were still plenty of ants in it. I drank it anyway, then I left and never returned to that classy establishment.
It was a hole in the wall biker bar.

reply to post by butcherguy


Adds a little extra crunch and flavour to the icecubes... and you get protein for free

Just going to ask a question here to our cousins in the USA :

Is Mezcal or taditionally Mezcal con gusano with the worm (Hipopta agavis) still sold in the United States?

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by Rodinus


As far as I know, the 'con gusano' mezcal is still available. I prefer it to tequila and have eaten more of those worms than I should have.

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by Rodinus

 

As far as I know, the 'con gusano' mezcal is still available. I prefer it to tequila and have eaten more of those worms than I should have.

And then the FDA go ape about a couple of mites too many.. hehe, imagine your cheese covered in those worms... now THAT would be a legitimate reason for a ban

Ok, time for me to go see WWZ with son now.

Cheerio for now folks.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by Rodinus


I know what you mean

I lived part of my life in an area of South America with strong italian culture influence. People there make their own wine every year, just for family consumption. Most of it consumed in family celebrations and festivities, in combination with great barbecues made of animals they grew up by themselves or bought from someone you know how they feed them.

Originally posted by Trueman
reply to post by Rodinus

 

I know what you mean

I lived part of my life in an area of South America with strong italian culture influence. People there make their own wine every year, just for family consumption. Most of it consumed in family celebrations and festivities, in combination with great barbecues made of animals they grew up by themselves or bought from someone you know how they feed them.

Yum, yum, slurp, slurp...

Bon appetit

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Cheese mites ?
Seriously ....have they ever looked at bleu cheese under a microscope ...

It does sound like sour grapes on our end. All this impounding of food as of late.
They did this with another bunch of cheese recently ...I forget which kind ,and they considered doing it with kimchee . Thing is,we have a HUGE Korean population ,who will make it anyway .
They wanted to ban it because it was fermented ,and they have no idea how to classify it .
Fail FDA .fail