In yet another case of labeling tricks and deception where store bought food is concerned, many brands of raw cheese produced in the United States and sold at the healthfood store and specialty shops are anything but.
Organic Valley, the corporate behemoth that has gone to the Dark Side where raw, fresh, organic, healthgiving grassfed milk is concerned is not surprisingly the worst offender of this loophole in the USDA regulations.
According to Federal Law 7 (CFR 58.438):
“If the cheese is labeled as pasteurized, the milk shall be pasteurized by subjecting every particle of milk to a minimum temperature of 161 degrees Fahrenheit for not less than 15 [fifteen] seconds or by any other acceptable combination of temperature and time treatment approved by the Administrator.”
For FLUID PRODUCTS, “vat pasteurization” is defined as heating at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes; heating at 161 degrees for at least 15 seconds is called “high temperature short time pasteurization” [7 CFR 58.101].
What does this mean in layman’s terms?
It means that any cheese where the milk is heated to a temperature under 161 degrees Fahrenheit or less than 15 seconds could be called “raw” and labeled as such according to this definition!
Organic Valley admits on its website that its raw cheese is “subpasteurized”, but fails to identify just how close subpasteurized is to the real thing. This is typical marketing deception and labeling games by a company which, many months ago, I stopped buying products from.
Subpasteurization still heats the milk to an obscenely high temperature which destroys nutrition and enzymes. Calling such a product “raw” is deceptive, misleading, if not downright insulting to the sensibilities and intelligence of its customers.
While Organic Valley is no doubt the worst offender of this regulatory loophole, any other cheese sold in stores, produced in the United States and labeled as “raw” is also likely heated to subpasteurization temperatures. Even “raw” goat cheese would fall under this loophole.
I called the company Tree of Life which also produces “raw” cheese sold in healthfood stores, but my questions about the true rawness of their cheeses were not answered and requests for a return call from someone who could provide me with answers were not returned.
On a positive note, a very small dairy near my metro area which sells raw goat cheese in stores around town was very upfront and forthright with their answers about how the cheese is produced. This dairy does truly produce raw cheese as the milk is only warmed to 98F which is well within the limits for enzyme and nutrient preservation.
Buy Local from a Trusted Small Farm
The lesson to be learned here is that the only way to be sure that the cheese you buy comes from truly raw milk is to buy from a preferably local, small dairy farm that specializes in cheesemaking and to talk to the cheesemaker yourself. To find a small farm near you, check out the Real Milk website or contact your local Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leaders from around the world for their list of locally produced goods.
If you don’t have a local dairy farm near you that makes cheese, contact the Weston A. Price Foundation and order the 2010 Shopping Guide for $3 plus shipping. This handy little brochure fits in your pocket or purse and lists many small farms across North America where you can mail order truly raw cheese.
And, whatever you do, don’t buy the fake “raw” cheese from Organic Valley!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Many thanks to Pete Kennedy, Esq. of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund for tracking down the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) references for this article.
I’m sad to report that as of earlier this year Organic Pastures products are no longer certified organic. A convoluted point-dodging excuse for an explanation posted on their website makes claims that the certified organic feeds they were paying “premium prices” for were still allowed to contain GMO’s, and attempting to lead the reader to believe that their switch to Non-GMO Project verification is somehow better than Organic Certification, completely obfuscating the issue of toxic pesticide, herbicide & fungicide residues in conventional (even if non-gmo) feed crops, particularly the use of glyphosate as post-harvest desiccant, to say noting of their mineral deficiency, inferior & incomplete nutrient content and resultant high prevalence of molds/yeast/fungi & associated mycotoxin loads. Even the Non-GMO project’s website states that Organic IS SUPERIOR in standards and recommends Non-GMO Certification be used in conjunction with Organic Certification, never in substitution of. This I find to be an unbelievable unconscionably egregious slap in the face for a customer who has religiously purchased from and supported Organic Pastures Dairy for over 15 years.
what kind of cheese do you use? love your blogs
I get raw cheeses … small artisanal ones. Whole Foods and Earth Fare have excellent selections.
organic valley says right on their label heat treated to 158 for 15 seconds. I think the taste is really good but finding out it wasn’t truly raw made me sad. But it is a delicious organic grass fed cheese comparable to anything kerrygold can make.
“To achieve optimal flavor the milk is heated to 158 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds.” Instacart sales page.
Most bacteria die at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the Smoking Gun
Organic Pastures is the real, raw deal. I know cause it gave me the shits for days. Haha.
Me too! I can’t handle ANY dairy, but their “RAW” cheese i have NO reaction to!
Here one for you: Organic Pastures brand (see their website) is selling “raw cheddar” and other milk products that they claim are never heated above 102 degrees F. There’s quite a bit of information on their website about their dairy products, but I haven’t been able to figure out how they’ve been able to do what others have been quite literally attacked for: selling raw dairy on a larger scale, to some larger health food store chains no less. The plot thickens! I tried their raw cheddar; none of the typical intolerance issues, and it tasted pretty darn raw to me. Rather than gummy and fake like most cheeses out there, it tasted similar to a high quality imported aged cheddar. What’s more, it had a living effervescence to it, just like a legitimate homemade live ferment, and the taste of its sourness was multi-layered – not a straight up vinegar tang like most commercial cheddar.
No email back yet from the company. I don’t want to be TOO skeptical; my body’s telling me it’s the real deal. Any thoughts on this?
No idea. Organic Pastures cheese is not available in my area to try it out and see.
Thank you for the article. This explains a lot. I have IBD and just discovered a while back a wonderful raw milk cheese at a local Sprouts store near my house. I could feel a difference when eating it. It definitely helped reduce my gut inflammation and made me feel better. Then they stopped carrying it, and now I cannot remember the name of it. Instead they started carrying the Organic Valley brand. If figured it would be just as good as the other one, so I bought it. It actually made my gut hurt MORE. I thought it was just a fluke so I tried it again and again. Every time I ate it, it hurt me. I always wondered why I had a problem with it, when the other brand of raw milk cheese really, really helped me. Now I understand.
Just an update- the link you provided says “unpasteurized” not subpasteurized. Does that make a difference re:OG V?
Hi I love your sight thank you for everything you post! I was wondering if there’s any way to make mozzarella , paramasean , or cheddar without heating the raw dairy above 117F. I cannot find any way to do this with mozzarella and havnt researched the other two , thought I’d ask the expert . Thank you !
Mozarella is a heated cheese, so the answer to that is no. Parmesan I’m not sure about. Cheddar can definitely be made raw, as I have purchased it from a dairy farm in raw form before. I have not made it in Florida, however, due to weather conditions which are not very conducive to aged cheeses.