Acting on a tip they received, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made an unannounced visit to a Pennsylvania cheese factory back in 2012. They uncovered proof that Castle Cheese Inc. was altering its so-called “100 percent real Parmesan cheese” with fillers, mainly wood pulp. The sub-par yet finished products were distributed to some of the largest grocery chains in the U.S.
According to a Bloomberg report, it has become a common practice for Parmesan cheese makers to mislabel products and use substitutes like cellulose, which is made from wood pulp. Cheese suppliers have also used cheaper cheeses instead of real Parmesan or Romano as their labels display.
The FDA’s report on Castle Cheese was obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. In it, it is stated that “no Parmesan cheese was used to manufacture” the Market Pantry brand 100% grated Parmesan cheese (sold at Target stores), as well as Always Save Grated Parmesan Cheese and Best Choice 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese (sold by Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc.) The cheeses in question instead contained a combination of Swiss, mozzarella, white cheddar and cellulose, according to the agency’s findings.
Target maintains that Castle has never been an authorized vendor supplying their stores.
Held liable for Castle Cheese’s food safety violations will be the company’s president, Michelle Myrter. She is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges this month. She faces up to a year in prison, along with a $100,000 fine. After the FDA’s surprise visit in 2012, Castle halted production of the cheeses in question and trashed what they had in stock. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2014.
Bloomberg News hired an independent laboratory to test various store-bought grated cheeses. Cellulose, considered to be a safe additive, is acceptable if it is found to make up 2 percent to 4 percent of the product.