Grazing with Mom (photo by Emily Roesly, courtesy of morgueFile.com)

It was more than a little disturbing to learn that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be on the verge of approving genetically engineered salmon, it went ahead and shut down an artisanal cheesemaker in Montesano, Washington due to concern over raw milk contamination.

Montesano’s Estrella Family Creamery is a family-owned business with a grass-based farm that scored big at the prestigious 2010 American Cheese Society Awards:

• Weebles: First in class (Smoked Italian Styles)

• Caldwell Crik Chevrett: First in class (Sheep's or Mixed Milks)

• Jalapeño Buttery: Second prize (Flavored, Peppers)

Estrella's cheeses were also served at a James Beard Dinner in New York, but according to a blog post from Beth Buczynski on care2.com, “FDA officials arrived unannounced at the most well-known artisanal creamery in Washington and posted a seizure order that named all cheeses on the property.”

Ms. Buczynski writes that the FDA acted after “…an inspection by the Washington State Department of Agriculture turned up Listeria monocytogenes (L-mono), a bacteria found in animal feces, in the creamery's production areas and in its finished cheese, according to court records.”

The FDA’s seizure order includes every cheese in production at Estrella, not just those that tested positive for L-mono, despite the fact that no illnesses had been linked to the company’s foods, according to the Washington State Department of Health.

Estrella’s co-owner Kelli Estrella told the Seattle Times, "We very aggressively went after the problem." The company voluntarily recalled several cheeses, destroyed some of them, and paused production while it improved the facility, but that was not enough to keep the FDA from moving forward.

On the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund web site, attorney Pete Kennedy criticizes the heavy handedness of the FDA’s actions, “For the last thirty-eight years, and possibly further back, there have been no reports of illness caused by the consumption of raw milk that was attributed to L-mono.”

“All Estrella Family Creamery cheeses are made with raw milk from animals grazed in our organically maintained pastures,” says the creamery’s web site.

To view the blog post from Beth Buczynski cited above, go to: FDA Shuts Down Artisanal Cheesemakers In Washington

To view Pete Kennedy’s piece on the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund web site, go to: FDA's Ace in the Hole

To visit the web site of Montesano’s award-winning, artisanal cheesemaker, go to: Estrella Family Creamery

To view a selection of artisanal American cheeses go to: Artisanal & Crafted Cheeses

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