I have always avoided the pre-conference tours offered by the American Cheese Society, probably simply to save me the cost of the extra night in a hotel necessary to take advantage of it. However this year I would be traveling to a City (San Francisco) where I have family to bunk with AND the tour would also double as cheap transportation to the destination city (Sacramento), so I had no real reason to poo-poo the opportunity. I signed up for the “Farmstead Life: Sheep, Cow, and Goat” tour, and I’m glad I did.
Author Archives: Monroe Cheese Studio
June 6 Artisan Cheesemaker Food Safety Workshop in Conn
On June 6, 2014, the New England Dairy Promotion Board will be sponsoring the Artisan/Farmstead Cheese Maker Food Safety Workshop from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the University of Connecticut.
This hands-on workshop will help cheese makers understand best practices and techniques for pathogen control in their facilities to assure a continued safe and nutritional end product, while addressing the stringent regulations coming from the FSMA. The workshop will include topics such as GMPs, sanitation, preventative and microbial controls, environmental monitoring, and ingredient and product pathogen testing.
Food safety is an important issue, and we recognize that you work with many individuals who may find this workshop valuable including cheese makers and manufacturers, extension and industry professionals, and retail and foodservice cheese buyers. We’d greatly appreciate it if you would share the attached flier with your colleagues and other individuals who may be interested in attending this workshop.
For more information see this brochure (PDF).
To register visit: www.dairyevents.com
Have a great day!
Madeline Magin
UMass Extension CDLE Team
201 Natural Resources Way
305 Bowditch Hall
Amherst MA, 01003
P: (413) 545-5221
Europe Wants Its Cheese Names Back
The Portland Press Herald has published a front page story about one topic at the Transatlantic Trade Partnership negotiations of restrictions on using protected Geographic Indicators (“GI”s) in the trade names of cheeses. A trade agreement could ban the use of these GIs when exporting US cheese to other countries and could possible also ban the use of these GIs in US made sales sold in the US. This could affect Brie, Camembert, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Parmesan and even Feta (which is already a protected GI in Europe). A number of Guild members shared their thoughts with the PPH reporter on this issue. Maine Senator Angus King has publicly urged the USDA and US Trade Representative to fight EU efforts to protect the use of GI cheese names in cheese exported from the US.