Caustic Commentary, Dangerous Pasteurized Cheese

It’s kind of embarrassing. the FDA and state health departments are constantly warning us not to consume raw cheese, yet all the most recent dairy outbreaks have involved pasteurized cheese. In 2009 listeria in pasteurized Quargel acid-cured cheese sickened fourteen people and caused at least four deaths in Germany and Austria. In 2012, Frescolina Ricotta pasteurized cheese imported from Italy sickened twenty people and led to four deaths. Last year eighteen people got sick from pasteurized cheese in Australia, leading to two deaths and one miscarriage. The Crave Brothers listeria outbreak late in 2013 led to four hospitalizations, one death and one miscarriage. Now another listeria outbreak, this time from pasteurized queso fresco has sickened dozens including seven in Maryland. One person died in California. Why is the FDA not warning the public that pasteurized cheese—especially pasteurized soft cheese—is deadly and should never be consumed?

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2014.