Q: After a trip to K. Horton Foods one foodie expressed how much they loved the raw milk cheese and wondered, “why doesn’t all cheese get made this way?”

A: If you love raw milk cheese, you will find a lot more of them from European importers. Here in the United States the government heavily regulates raw milk. In fact, in many US states it is illegal to buy or sell raw milk. Most American milk undergoes a pasteurization process where the milk’s temperature is raised to kill potentially dangerous bacteria. Because the government is concerned about bacteria, the FDA requires cheese makers to age raw milk cheese for 60 days before the product is allowed on the market in the States. So your wonderful, tasty, raw milk cheeses are usually imported from France for example and carried at specialty stores. So if you have a small dairy farm here in the US you either have to pasteurize your milk before you make cheese or age it for sixty days, which is a long time to wait for cheese!

If you are interested in exploring some lovely raw milk cheese make sure to check out K. Horton Foods at www.khortonfoods.com or give them a ring to see what they have in stock, 207.228.2056.