Geo,
The Mexican cheese episode was one of the first that Liseria was found. They have since found it in many other products and cheeses. It usually doesn't effect most adults but can be deadly for the very young, very old and the immune supressed. It can also be dangerous for pregnant women and the unborn fetus causing miscarriage. So eat at your own risk.
Paulette

Geo wrote:LAZ-- I note that the illnesses reported in the NYT article are suspected to have been caused by a young, raw-milk cheese from Mexico. Enough said.

Hammond, who is, by the way, an expert on and advocate for Mexican food, did not specify the origins of the illegal cheese he was seeking.

Geo wrote:PS. Bye-the-bye, I would be remiss not to note that pristine and/or fastidious American intestinal systems might require a breaking-in period upon first encountering French raw-milk cheeses. But an unintended consequence then just might be a much more robust, not to mention *healthy*, post-American intestinal system.

That which does not kill you makes you stronger, perhaps, but not everyone enjoys the process.

I don't follow French news much, but I do know that in 2005 a number of children were hospitalized for an E. coli outbreak traced to raw-milk Camembert. The case has been cited in ongoing efforts in France to open the designation to cheese made from lightly pasteurized milk, and caused recalls across the EU. Enjoy your cheese.

Most cases of illness allegedly caused by raw-milk cheeses are in fact caused by post-production infections. Check this source. I'm sure someone will make tedious ad hominem objections about the source, but if it is read carefully, there is some excellent science there.

A practice sanctioned by millenia of experience shouldn't be shunned because of media hoo-hah and fears engendered by misunderstood scientific discussion.

LAZ wrote:Enjoy your cheese.

Good grief LAZ, of COURSE I will—when I can safely eat "better" instead of merely "good", why wouldn't I? And I'll stay quite healthy doing so, thenkew verruh mutch .

Geo

Geo wrote:Most cases of illness allegedly caused by raw-milk cheeses are in fact caused by post-production infections. Check this source. I'm sure someone will make tedious ad hominem objections about the source, but if it is read carefully, there is some excellent science there.

Much illness from pasteurized cheese is also caused by post-production mishandling.

"Food scientist Catherine Donnelly of the University of Vermont studied cases of food-borne illness from cheddar cheese. Of the more than 3000 illnesses caused by pasteurized milk cheddar cheese in the U.S and Canada from 1976 to 1989, Donnelly found that unsanitary equipment, ill workers, and sloppy pasteurization techniques introduced harmful bacteria during the cheese making. Though pasteurization may have killed all the bacteria in the milk, carelessness after the pasteurization step undermined any safety guarantee." (Source: http://www.bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/opin ... cheese.htm)

Exactly, Hammond. Nice cite.

In my opinion, pasteurization has exactly the efficacy of sacrificing a goat to Ra in the prevention of illnesses subsequent to cheese production of any sort.

Geo