Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

by Harvey Washington Wiley

—It is not necessary and perhaps it would be impossible to attempt an enumeration of all the various kinds of cheese which are offered on the market. The first classification of cheese depends upon the character of the milk used. The term “cheese” in this country naturally refers to a product made from cow’s milk since that is the principal milk used in the United States for cheese making. The term is used in this manual in that sense and when there is no qualifying word employed it is always understood that the product in question is made from the cow’s milk. This implies that the milk is at least a standard milk, that is, a whole milk, unskimmed and containing not less than 3.25 percent of butter fat. According to the definition fixed by the Congress of the United States the term cheese is applied not only to this product but also to one containing a larger percentage of fat than this. The term cheese applies both to cheese made from milk and cheese made partially from milk and partially from cream. The term “full cream cheese” is also often used in the trade but is likely to be misleading and deceptive. The real significance of the term full cream cheese is that it is made of whole milk or milk unskimmed which contains its full complement of cream. The term “cream cheese” is also often used to indicate a cheese made partially of milk and cream. It is evident that the term cream cheese in this sense is misleading, since it can be properly applied only to a cheese made from cream alone. Such cheeses are made but, inasmuch as cream must have not less than 18 percent of fat in order to be called cream according to the United States standard, the cheeses made from such a source are too oily and fatty for ordinary consumption.

Cheese Made from Goat’s Milk.

—Goat’s milk is also frequently used in making cheese. It is extensively employed in France and Switzerland for cheese making and also in other parts of Europe, and to a limited extent in this country. Some of the varieties of cheese which are most highly prized are made from goat’s milk, such as Roquefort.

Adulteration and Misbranding of Cheese.

—The most common form of adulteration or sophistication of cheese is the misbranding thereof in respect of the country where made or in respect of character. This is a form of deception which has long been established in the trade and one which cannot be condoned or excused. There are certain varieties of cheese whose names should be respected and in fact, in the case of all varieties that have an established character and reputation, their name should not be applied to other articles made in imitation thereof. In this country there is a national law which prohibits the marking of a food or dairy product falsely as to the state or territory where made. For instance, a cheese made in Ohio cannot be marked New York cheese and peaches grown in Delaware cannot be marked California peaches, maple sirup made in Indiana cannot be labeled Vermont maple sirup, etc. The ethical principle underlying this law is one which will meet the approbation of every well meaning man and therefore the extending of this principle to other forms of misbranding is an easy step. If it is a violation of the law to mark a cheese made in Ohio as made in New York it is certainly a violation of the ethical principle underlying that law to name a cheese made in Connecticut Cammerbert. Unhappily, however, there are cheeses made in the United States to which foreign names are given, the universal excuse being that they are cheeses of the same type. In many cases this excuse is not a valid one and in no case is it an accepted one. To name a cheese made from cow’s milk the same as that made from ewe’s milk is a distinct misbranding in every sense of the term. There should be no difficulty in established varieties of cheese made in this country having names which are not deceptive and not intended to mislead the consumer as to the state, territory, or country where made. In one sense all cheese may be said to be of the same type, but because the taste and odor of a cheese made in the United States imitates to some extent that of a cheese made in France is no excuse for giving the French name to the American product. A further illustration of this principle is found in the following: The term Roquefort, for instance, is not properly applied to any cheese product except that which is made at or in the vicinity of Roquefort. In no other part of France can cheese be made bearing the name of Roquefort. The use of the term Roquefort, therefore, in any way upon American cheese is a misbranding and an attempt to deceive which usually is successful. There is not so great an objection to the term Swiss cheese as to Roquefort, but there is the same kind of an objection. The cheese which bears the name of Schweitzer-Käse is very extensively manufactured in Germany and sold under that name. A similar cheese is also extensively made in this country and sold under the name of Schweitzer-Käse. In this case there is no particular location or place which originated the name and has the sole right to use the name Swiss cheese. It is the name of a whole country and not of a location, and yet it is evident that Swiss cheese properly can only be made in Switzerland and not in Germany or in the United States. Any hard, tough cheese in which a large number of holes is found and which on cutting makes a flexible, semi-leathery slice has to a certain extent the appearance and perhaps the taste and flavor of genuine Swiss cheese.

It should not be difficult to find a market for all good cheese made in this country, under appropriate American names indicating their origin. If the term Swiss cheese is at all allowable on a package it should be placed as a minor part of the label and with the statement that it is of that type. Even this transgression is perhaps difficult of excuse.

Artificial Coloring.

—Next to misbranding and misnaming of cheeses, perhaps the most common adulteration is that of artificial coloring. The public taste has been led in the matter of cheeses, especially of American origin, to look for a deep yellow color. This is also associated with the idea of the use of a large quantity of rich, naturally yellow-colored cream. The addition of an artificial color to a cheese never adds anything to its value, and to the really æsthetic eye detracts much from its appearance. The presence of this rich artificial tint is calculated in many instances to excite a suspicion in regard to the character of the cheese and thus interferes with its proper gustation. There is another more serious objection than the one just mentioned, namely, that it is possible from skimmed milk to make a highly colored cheese which would appear to the consumer to be made of whole milk or of milk and cream, and thus a deliberate deception is perpetrated. The consumer of cheese should demand that artificial coloring of all kinds be omitted from cheese products.

Moreover, these colors may of themselves be deleterious in character and there is no restriction, so far as I know, at this time in the United States to prevent a manufacturer, if he so desires or through his ignorance of the use of coloring materials of a poisonous character, from using any amount.[22] The coal tar dyes are cheaper and produce faster and more natural looking tints than the vegetable colors such as annotto and saffron, and hence, unless they are prohibited by law, they are almost universally employed. All of these dyes in a concentrated form are highly poisonous and injurious and several instances are on record of death, especially in the case of young children, from eating concentrated colors. The fact that a poison of this kind is diluted by the cheese is no excuse for its use. The only protection which the consumer has, which is reliable in all cases, is the prohibition of coloring matter in cheese.

[22] Written before the passage of the food-bill.