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FDA to do additional raw milk cheese testing

The FDA will begin a pilot program in January for testing raw milk cheeses. They will focus on domestic and imported raw milk cheeses aged at least 60 days. The testing will be in addition to current testing. Cheese Market News says FDA is going to test a new microbiological sampling surveillance model designed to give the Agency a better understanding of the risks, contamination rates and mitigation strategies of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E.coli O157:H7. Approximately 1,600 cheese samples will be taken. The pilot project will also test domestic and imported sprouts and raw almonds.

FDA told American Cheese Society members general information and trending of the sample results will not likely be released until the analysis is completed which would be January, 2015 at the earliest.