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

[tassosss.livejournal.com]

From brief googling and my own limited knowledge it looks like cheese made from unpasteurized milk has to be aged 60 days before it can be sold. Cheesemakers, including small farms, have to get permits to produce cheeses from raw milk. Otherwise, I think a lot of the big commercial stuff is made with pasteurized.

[ratcreature]

Here there is much pasteurized cheese as well, and raw milk is controlled more, but it's not restricted except that it has to be labelled. At least with the 60 days much cheese would be still legal, but I now image covert black market transactions by Americans in search of a real Camembert or a young Brie...

[tassosss.livejournal.com]

I now image covert black market transactions by Americans in search of a real Camembert or a young Brie...

I don't think you're far off the mark! There are huge groups here who lobby for "free" cheese and the relaxing of restrictions, and of course the raw milk thing is huge right now too.