White Collar inspired question

[ratcreature]

In the recent ep Diana claims that Neal's raw milk Pecorino cheese was illegal (Neal counters that it was a gift, not sold), which I found very strange. I know that there is more concern about risks of raw milk products in the US than elsewhere, but surely the US wouldn't outlaw all kinds of cheeses? What on earth would be sold as Parmesan cheese in the US for example (I mean if you want the non-ersatz kind, i.e. proper Parmigiano-Reggiano), if raw milk cheese was really illegal? Or Gruyère? Or any of the other common cheeses that need raw milk? It's not like raw milk is only used in obscure specialty cheeses foodie snobs seek out.

Comments

[ratcreature]

People would revolt if they tried that here. I mean, raw milk is somewhat of a niche product, but I don't think anyone would go for changing the taste of traditional, beloved cheeses, and some raw meat foods are very popular. For example Mettbrötchen, i.e. breakfast rolls with raw minced pork, are widely sold as snackfood, even by places like bakeries and train station kiosks that do not have a refrigerated display counter, so you can have that roll with the raw meat on it lying outside for a few hours, next to rolls with cheese or sausages. Happens in the summer too, and while it is not tropical here, temperatures easily reach the upper twenties, and sometimes the thirties. There is a rule though that you can only sell that ground pork the day it was produced but still. You'd think it was an invitation for food poisoning, but mostly people seem to be okay eating these things.

[lilacsigil]

Yes, we have a lot of German settlers in the Adelaide area, and they used to produce this kind of product but unfortunately after a toddler died in the early 90s it was all banned in a massive overreaction. (Adelaide can be over 30 for 60 days in a row and over 40 for 5 in a row, though, so it is a lot hotter there!) Australia has super-strict food and quarantine laws for everything, though, so it doesn't seem quite as draconian as it might in another country. Cheese producers are challenging the ban at the moment - there's no way we're going to get imported raw milk or meat products, but we might be able to make and sell our own again.