The Hard Truth About Hard Cheese Authenticity – ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Organizations such as the National Center for Food Protection and Defense monitor the growing problem of food fraud and economically motivated adulteration. They have noted that when ingredients are not accurately disclosed on packaging or products are purposely mislabeled, companies are, at minimum skirting consumers’ desires for transparency; at maximum, may be at risk or implicated for EMA.

Over the last five to seven years there has been a shift in food culture in the U.S. There has been a rise in food and culinary popularity from the proliferation of televised cooking competition shows to high-end subscription service meal kits; and from chefs as A-list celebrities to social media photos of meals created at home or enjoyed at restaurants. Consumers are taking an increased interest in all aspects of their food: sustainability, quality of food supply chains, fair trade and fair treatment, and making those connections to the food they eat and the companies they trust to provide it.

This return to the kitchen and increased awareness of food origins has transformed the food and beverage marketplace and is causing rapid change across retail, ingredient, and food service businesses. Simply stated, consumers are more passionate than ever about food and want higher quality food and beverage experiences to go along with their desire for a higher quality lifestyle.

As such, it is confounding in some respects to see the practices of adulteration and fraud grow in domestic Italian hard cheese, while the consumer is voting daily at the cash register for higher quality, real, and authentic food products. If the cheese industry is  truly working to serve consumers in this environment–what they want, what they’re willing to pay for, and the value they care about–then, it is time for this mislabeling to stop.

There may be a viable market–one that may continue in the foreseeable future–for inexpensive cheese and cheese-type products. The difficulty is when these products are represented on product packages, bags, cartons, or menus as real Parmesan or Romano when they are anything but.

Schuman is CEO of  Arthur Schuman Inc. Reach him at [email protected].