Cheese manufacturers use spider-like insects and fly larvae to impart particular flavors and aromas to certain cheeses.
Cheese Mites and Maggots
4.7/5 - (16 votes)
Cases of cheese mite dermatitis date back over 60 years in the United States—also known as cheese itch. Though typically considered vermin by the food industry, affecting harder cheeses like aged cheddar in particular, they [maggots] are sometimes intentionally added to cheese for added flavor. In the Journal of Dairy Science, the various species were recently identified. When cheese is ripened with mites, a nutty, fruity flavor and aroma evidently develops. The placement of the anal suckers can evidently be used to help differentiate between the different types, to make sure you put the right one in the cheese. Here’s a video of the little suckers in action, ripening the cheese, developing the nutty, fruity flavor and aroma.
Positively appetizing, though, compared to some other cheesemaking practices. The “cheese skipper” is sometimes present in well-aged cheese and a proof of its quality. The cheese skipper doesn’t sound so bad, until you realize they’re talking about cheese infested with maggots of the cheese fly. The larvae are the well-known cheese skippers. They can cause intestinal infections—even urinary tract infections.
Normally the insects are just contaminants, but there is a spider cheese equivalent of the maggot world, casu marzu—a soft cheese intentionally riddled with thousands maggots of the cheese fly to aid in fermentation. Evidently because the larvae can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimeters, diners are said to hold their hands above their sandwiches to prevent the maggots from leaping into their face.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
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- Dowling GB, Thomas EW. Cheese Itch: Contact Dermatitis due to Mite-infested Cheese Dust. Br Med J. 1942 Nov 7;2(4270):543.
- Anderson NP, Fishman HC. Cheese mite dermatitis occurring in the United States. Arch Derm Syphilol. 1948 Feb;57(2):227-34.
- Melnyk JP, Smith A, Scott-Dupree C, Marcone MF, Hill A. Identification of cheese mite species inoculated on Mimolette and Milbenkase cheese through cryogenic scanning electron microscopy. J Dairy Sci. 2010 Aug;93(8):3461-8.
- McClymont Peace D. Reproductive success of the mite Acarus siro L. on stored cheddar cheese of different ages. Journal of Stored Products Research, Volume 19, Issue 3, July 1983, Pages 97–104.
- Peckenscneider LE, Pokorny C, Hellwig CA. Intestinal infestation with maggots of the cheese fly (Piophila casei). J Am Med Assoc. 1952 May 17;149(3):262-3.
- De Groot HB. Myiasis in Canada. Can Med Assoc J. 1956 Oct 15;75(8):673-4.
Images thanks to Ninjatacoshell, John Curtis, Shardan via Wikimedia Commons, and zimpenfish via Flickr.
Cases of cheese mite dermatitis date back over 60 years in the United States—also known as cheese itch. Though typically considered vermin by the food industry, affecting harder cheeses like aged cheddar in particular, they [maggots] are sometimes intentionally added to cheese for added flavor. In the Journal of Dairy Science, the various species were recently identified. When cheese is ripened with mites, a nutty, fruity flavor and aroma evidently develops. The placement of the anal suckers can evidently be used to help differentiate between the different types, to make sure you put the right one in the cheese. Here’s a video of the little suckers in action, ripening the cheese, developing the nutty, fruity flavor and aroma.
Positively appetizing, though, compared to some other cheesemaking practices. The “cheese skipper” is sometimes present in well-aged cheese and a proof of its quality. The cheese skipper doesn’t sound so bad, until you realize they’re talking about cheese infested with maggots of the cheese fly. The larvae are the well-known cheese skippers. They can cause intestinal infections—even urinary tract infections.
Normally the insects are just contaminants, but there is a spider cheese equivalent of the maggot world, casu marzu—a soft cheese intentionally riddled with thousands maggots of the cheese fly to aid in fermentation. Evidently because the larvae can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimeters, diners are said to hold their hands above their sandwiches to prevent the maggots from leaping into their face.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Dowling GB, Thomas EW. Cheese Itch: Contact Dermatitis due to Mite-infested Cheese Dust. Br Med J. 1942 Nov 7;2(4270):543.
- Anderson NP, Fishman HC. Cheese mite dermatitis occurring in the United States. Arch Derm Syphilol. 1948 Feb;57(2):227-34.
- Melnyk JP, Smith A, Scott-Dupree C, Marcone MF, Hill A. Identification of cheese mite species inoculated on Mimolette and Milbenkase cheese through cryogenic scanning electron microscopy. J Dairy Sci. 2010 Aug;93(8):3461-8.
- McClymont Peace D. Reproductive success of the mite Acarus siro L. on stored cheddar cheese of different ages. Journal of Stored Products Research, Volume 19, Issue 3, July 1983, Pages 97–104.
- Peckenscneider LE, Pokorny C, Hellwig CA. Intestinal infestation with maggots of the cheese fly (Piophila casei). J Am Med Assoc. 1952 May 17;149(3):262-3.
- De Groot HB. Myiasis in Canada. Can Med Assoc J. 1956 Oct 15;75(8):673-4.
Images thanks to Ninjatacoshell, John Curtis, Shardan via Wikimedia Commons, and zimpenfish via Flickr.
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Title
Cheese Mites and Maggots
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
Cheese manufacturers may also add aluminum to cheese to improve sliceability, just as the poultry industry adds arsenic to the diets of chickens to improve carcass coloration. The egg industry also tries in vain to compete with greens by adding plant pigments to chicken feed (Egg Industry Blind Spot).
Be sure to check out my other videos on questionable industry practices. Note that the cheddar cheese mite study is available open access, so you can download it by clicking on the link above in the Sources Cited section.
Also, be sure to check out my associated blog post, Adding FDA-Approved Viruses to Meat.
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