"Cheese made with unpasteurized milk is legal and delicious"
Published On Wed Feb 04 2009
Gurth Pretty sells cheese at Toronto farmers' markets – raw milk cheese. Some customers are taken aback.
"People would say, `But isn't that illegal or unsafe to eat?'" Pretty recalls.
"There is a lot of misunderstanding by consumers," he adds, "and even by the local health board."
When he first informed the city he planned to sell raw milk cheese, the official on the phone said, "Hey, that's not legal." Pretty said, "Take another look." There was a pause and the flipping of pages.
The man probably just heard the words "raw milk." That phrase has been high on the public's radar since the arrest of farmer Michael Schmidt, now on trial for distributing raw milk. The trial is expected to end tomorrow.
Pretty says the trial has created confusion. "The mission is to inform the consumer that raw milk cheese is legal to make."
As part of that mission, Pretty is hosting a Cheesy Soirée Feb. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bata Shoe Museum. He's bringing 17 raw milk cheeses to the party. They are made from sheep, goat or cow's milk. Most are from Ontario, "which will be a surprise for a lot of participants," he says. Six are from Quebec and one is from New Brunswick.
Attendees will be able to taste (and buy) the raw milk cheeses. Experts debating the risks and benefits are also on the menu. Tickets are $40 and include a glass of beer or wine. (Go to cheeseofcanada.ca or call .)
A local chef and author with a Facebook page for cheese-lovers, Pretty brands himself as Canada's Cheese Guru. This week, he hauled a cooler with nine raw milk cheeses to the Star's test kitchen. The outstanding selection included sheep's milk feta from Best Baa Farm in Conn, Ont.; a pecorino-like cheese with its rind washed by elderberry juice, from a sheep farmer in the Ottawa area; and the divine Cru de Champlain, an organic cow's milk cheese from Quebec with a chewy rind that's almost as good as the creamy centre.
"From the cheese lover's perspective, it's the bacteria that gives the cheese (and its milk) the flavour," Pretty says. "And the milk is in its most pure form."
Raw milk cheese has good and potentially bad bacteria. It is legal to produce and sell as long as it has been aged for 60 days. Health Canada notes that it is considered safe because the cheese manufacturing process helps eliminate many pathogens found in raw milk. However, pregnant women are still warned to avoid soft and semi-soft cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. Runny cheeses such as brie pose a higher risk than hard, dry, salty cheeses such as parmesan.
Back in 1996, the federal government tried to ban raw milk cheese. It decided that all cheese should be made from pasteurized milk, or heat-treated to at least 63C for 15 seconds, and stored for 60 days or more at 2C. The measures were meant to kill organisms such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli. The ban would have extended to many beloved imported cheeses, including Parmigiano-Reggiano.
An outcry from cheesed-off consumers and producers, particularly from Quebec, forced the government to abandon the legislation. Protests included a raw milk cheese tasting on Parliament Hill.
Raw milk cheeses are not widely produced in Canada. Pretty says that of the 1,700 cheeses listed in his book, The Definitive Guide to Canadian Artisanal and Fine Cheese, only 107 are raw milk cheeses.
Making cheese from pasteurized milk is easier. The milk has a longer shelf life and the flavour is consistent, which suits the corporation mindset. Pretty calls it "semi- industrial and industrial cheese." The taste of artisanal cheeses varies by season, by animal and, of course, by the milk used.
"There are more challenges for the cheesemaker to make a cheese with raw milk," Pretty says. Along with the "bacterial issues," he cites access to milk and distribution as challenges.
For cow's milk, there's a quota set aside for cheese production. He says sheep's milk is richer, with higher protein, so it takes five litres to make one kilogram of cheese. It takes more than twice that when working with goat or cow's milk, he adds. The catch: a sheep will produce a litre of milk a day. Compare that to a Holstein that produces 40 litres a day, Pretty says.
Consumers can find raw milk cheeses at North St. Lawrence Market, farmers' markets and specialty cheese shops, but they are not always clearly labelled.
Pretty is selling raw milk cheeses at two farmers' markets this winter: Green Barn on Wychwood Ave. on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, and University College at U of T on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Raw milk cheese is "a bit more expensive," he says. Expect to pay $7 to $8 for a 100-gram wedge.
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