Re: french cheese, anyone?

[Guest guest]

My brother-in-law who works in the food industry said if they are

making food for export to America, they can use American standards,

i.e. milk with hormones even if it's banned in their country. Would

they go to the trouble or just make it all the same? Might depend on

the price they pay for the ingredients. Why would our milk be in

France, tho?? But then again, I've read we have huge dairy surpluses

and have to get rid of " excess milk " - makes you wonder why they

think hormones that make the cows produce more at greater expense in

health and longevity are worth it??

His factory has different recipes for export b/c so many countries

ban GMO's that they can pretty much only use them for products that

won't be exported.

I can't remember the milk in France, but do remember in Switzerland

and Germany the milk was very yellow and tasted terrific, so I'd

guess they pasture their dairy animals a lot more than here.

--- In , " " <heather_wapf@...>

wrote:

>

> What can you tell me about French industrial cheesemaking methods?

We just bought a brie

> (pasteurized, of course) from Costco, made in France. It tastes

good, though I'm sure if I had

> raw-milk camembert or brie, it would be much different.

>

> Am I risking a lot by eating French industrial cheese? I mean, the

same as I would risk eating

> pasteurized American soft cheese? The label doesn't list any weird

additives, though these

> things always say " enzymes, " and I don't know if that means GMO

stuff. I don't know

> anything about the cows used in French industrial cheesemaking.

>

> Gray, Chandler, AZ

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the information. This cheese looks a bit yellow, which is

encouraging. It's

made with a lot of cream...and I'd think it would have made decent-looking

butter.

I wonder if we have " excess milk " because it's not the cheapest obtainable for

certain

processed food purposes, and then we have people who are turned off of milk

because

they can't digest it and are not drinking milk anymore, or who have found other

sources of

milk they like better (the organic ones, the local raw ones, etc.). There's all

that processed

milk from China and who knows where else, I assume because it's cheaper, not

necessarily

better. For now, anyway.

I'd heard GMOs were banned in some European countries...wasn't sure if it was

all of the

EU. I guess they could go to the trouble, in a large enough operation, to use

things like

that, if it is all exported. That's what concerns me. I guess I still don't

know unless I

wrangle it out of the company.

>

> My brother-in-law who works in the food industry said if they are

> making food for export to America, they can use American standards,

> i.e. milk with hormones even if it's banned in their country. Would

> they go to the trouble or just make it all the same? Might depend on

> the price they pay for the ingredients. Why would our milk be in

> France, tho?? But then again, I've read we have huge dairy surpluses

> and have to get rid of " excess milk " - makes you wonder why they

> think hormones that make the cows produce more at greater expense in

> health and longevity are worth it??

>

> His factory has different recipes for export b/c so many countries

> ban GMO's that they can pretty much only use them for products that

> won't be exported.

>