FDA Tag

If the FDA's overreach into cheese doesn't compel you to grab your pitchfork and take to the streets, nothing will. Last week, we wrote about the FDA's French cheese tyranny. Looks like the situation is only becoming more dire. According to The Gazette, a cheese factory that specializes in cheese curds is shutting down. They're not being shut down for a specific health violation or anything like that -- they make good cheese. They're closing up shot because compliance with new federal regulations will require more cash than they have to spend:

“From advanced food safety and quality assurance requirements to more stringent environmental regulations that would require substantial capital investment,” said Gary Weihs, president of Proliant Dairy Ingredients, in a news release. “As a result of the changing environment, we have decided to close the Kalona facility. This is a difficult decision and we will continue to explore other opportunities for the facility.”

The facility employed 50 people. Impacted employees will receive compensation, severance pay and job placement assistance, the release said.

John Roetlin wouldn’t comment on the factory’s fate.

“It is what it is,” Roetlin said when contacted Thursday. He added the Kalona Cheese House, the factory’s store, will remain open despite the factory’s closure.

A group of Amish and Mennonite farmers established the operation as co-op in 1946, according to the website. The farmers hired Swiss immigrant John Roetlin, Sr. to run the factory, which opened in 1947.

This isn't just about cheese, it's about a community who will now be forced to find other ways to make memories.

Is there anything the government doesn't ruin? I had the pleasure of living in France for some time. While there, I gained an appreciation for their amazing array of cheeses. So vast is their cheese spread that Charles de Gaulle is famously quoted as saying, "Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?" ("How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?"). But I digress. According to The Week, the FDA is out to regulate away our freedom to partake in French cheese: