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Is your raw cheese actually raw? Or has it been greenwashed?

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

July 10, 2024

cheeses.jpg

I know you get frustrated with misleading labels. Me, too! Sadly, I just found out about a new one to watch out for...

Imagine that you're shopping in a cheese department. You spot some raw cheese. Hooray! 

So, you buy the cheese. But then, you read the fine print on the back of the label. For example, on Organic Valley's raw cheeses, it says "Heated to 158F for 15 seconds". Ugh!!!

What's up with this? Another greenwashed label? Shouldn't raw cheese not be heated at all? Doesn't heating to 158F negate the purpose of purchasing raw?

Let's dive a little deeper.

How heating milk past 110F alters digestibility and nutrition

I mean, in terms of health, raw cheese is the best. Milk in its raw state has more nutritional value compared to pasteurized milk. 

When milk isn't heated past 110F, all the natural microbiology, vitamins, and minerals stay intact. And that means max digestibility and nutrition for you. This makes logical sense, since milk straight from a cow is around 102F.

When milk is heated above 110F, it changes. Here's a chart breaking it down:

The amount of damage done is directly related to the amount of processing. The higher the pasteurization temp and time, the more the naturally healthy parts of the milk are damaged. In addition, when milk is homogenized, it breaks down nutrients and fats.

Why milk needs to be heated to make cheese

You can't make cheese without a little heat. The cultures simply wouldn't grow.

Mesophilic cultures work at temps ranging from 62–102F. The most common temp for this type of culture is around  90F. They are used to make many types of cheese, including cheddar, gouda, chèvre, muenster, and camembert.

Thermophilic cultures work at temps ranging from 104–112F. They are used to make cheeses like mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, swiss, and romano.

The legal regulations for raw cheese

Legally, as long as the milk isn't heated to the the legal pasteurization temp of 161F on "properly operated equipment", it's still considered "raw milk". And cheese made from that milk can be labeled as "raw cheese". 

Here are the legal pasteurization temps and times:

  • 145F for 30 minutes
  • 161F for 15 seconds
  • 191F for 1 second
  • 204F for 0.05 second
  • 212F for 0.01 second

So, if Organic Valley heats the milk to 158F for 15 seconds (just under the legal 161F for 15 seconds), they can label it as "raw cheese".

Or, if a cheesemaker heats the milk to to any temp or time, but they don't use "properly operated equipment" that's certified and records temps and times, guess what? Yup, it can be labeled as "raw cheese".

Both of the above examples are 100% legal and within the regulations. 

A few other legal requirements for raw cheese:

  • The cheese needs to be aged 60 days or more. 
  • Must contain less than 45% moisture.
  • Must contain more than 50% milkfat.

What doesn't need to be disclosed on raw cheese labels

The temp the milk was heated to does NOT need to be on a cheese label. 

The ingredients in the cheese need to be on the label (for example: milk, salt, cultures, rennet). But not necessarily the nitty gritty ingredients:

  • The type of enzymes (or rennet) used and the origin of those enzymes (animal, plant, or microbial) do NOT need to be listed. A label can simply say "enzymes" or "rennet".
  • The exact strains used in the culture does NOT need to be listed. A cheese label typically says "cultures".
  • Any additives in the culture or rennet do NOT need to be listed (things like propylene glycol, maltodextrin, dyes, etc)

Why mozzarella simply cannot be truly raw

I see folks out there selling "raw" mozzarella. Sure they might be starting out by culturing raw milk not heated above 110F. But a true raw mozzarella is simply not possible, and here's why. 

When you make mozzarella cheese, you culture milk with the specific mozzarella strains. Then, you separate the curds and whey. And finally, you need to stretch the curd.

In order to stretch the curd, you need to put the curd in very hot water. The minimum temp for this to happen is 165F. And that curd needs to be fully heated to that temp in order to stretch.

In short, raw mozzarella is NOT a thing.

Why Miller's raw cheeses are truly raw

When one of our A2/A2 cheeses says "raw", we mean it. The milk is only heated enough so the cheese cultures can thrive, and that's never past 110F.

Plus, we also give you the nitty gritty details in the product description for each cheese. That includes:

  • The type of rennet
  • The exact cultures
  • Any additives in any ingredient used in the cheesemaking process

At Miller's Bio Farm, we take our job of providing you with truly natural food seriously. We give you so much info on our site, so you can be a smart natural food shopper. And, if there's any info you can't find but would like to know, please reach out. We're happy to help!

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It’s making small, healthier choices every day.  So, what are your thoughts? Are you trying to cut back on sugar too? What are your favorite alternatives? Do you have any recommendations?  ----- References https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/health/family-health/children-and-sugar-how-bad-it https://www.westonaprice.org/... https://thinkvida.com/blog/why-you-should-avoid-refined-sugars/ https://kaynutrition.com/what-is-the-healthiest-sugar/ https://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/outreach/nutr-health-info-sheets/consumer-addedsugars https://www.hartfordhospital.org/about-hh/news-center/news-detail?articleId=27851&publicid=461 https://thegreatbritishporridgeco.co.uk/blogs/news/natural-sugars-vs-added-sugars... https://veggiesandvirtue.com/blog/how-much-sugar-can-kids-have https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/

Our bone broth tested A+++ for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

*Originally published on 3/14/25. Updated on 4/15/25. Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the body. Depending on the metal, it can accumulate in the bones, muscle, skin, brain, etc. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment.  And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you use apple cider vinegar to draw everything out and make it thick and gelatinous and nutrient rich (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead:  (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? 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So, for 1 μg/kg, in every billion grams of that food, there would be one gram (or 0.0000001%) of that particular heavy metal. The small numbers matter when it comes to toxic heavy metals, since it doesn't take all that much for your body to become inundated and start experiencing issues or damage. These results are excellent. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals and are within safe levels.  Our amazing customers mentioned Mike Adams to me numerous times after we released the first set of broth results. Mike Adams is an outspoken consumer health advocate, investigative journalist, activist, and science lab director. It turns out Eurofins, the lab we used, is a lab that he recommends.  Moreover, our results land us in his highest rating when it comes to heavy metals! I think we're doing pretty great when it comes to providing clean, natural food. But, one result did make me pause. 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And finally, it was also quite perplexing how arsenic showed in our beef as well as our chicken. You see, our beef and chicken are grown on two separate farms (hours apart) and are processed at two separate processors (also hours apart). They're fed two completely separate diets, too! My only explanation is farmland in general or maybe even our environment in general.  Organic arsenic has always been naturally present in the soil and water. It's just there in small amounts. But, levels nowadays are likely higher due to overuse of products laden with inorganic arsenic over time. Starting in the 1940s, conventional farmers would include drugs filled with inorganic arsenic in the feed for pigs and chickens and turkeys to encourage fast growth and prevent disease. Ugh. This actually led to concerns about arsenic poisoning, and that that practice was banned recently, in 2016. It makes me think that all the agri-waste has contaminated our farmland a bit, perhaps in both the soil and water. And then of course there are synthetic pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that may contain inorganic arsenic. And their use on conventional farms might runoff everywhere else. Since our meats are grown on farms that have been naturally managed for some time, I think that's why our arsenic levels were so low, especially compared to conventional meat.  Now, let's compare our results to food in general. Ours are extremely low. The data below is based on a few scientific studies: Arsenic: Rice contains anywhere from 90-450 ppb (that includes that rice cereal for babies, too). Meat and poultry in general typically contain 100-200 ppb. The max ours has is 6.8 ppb.Cadmium: Spinach contains 117-222 ppb. Rice contains 6-19 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10 ppb. Our has less than 2 ppb.Lead: Meat and poultry in general contain about 25 ppb. Our has less than 4 ppb.Mercury: The larger the fish, the more time it has to accumulate mercury. Swordfish and king mackerel can have about 1,000 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10-50 ppb. Ours has less than 2ppb. Wow! Putting that into perspective, it looks like our broth and meat are quite clean and extremely low in toxic heavy metals! Are you satisfied with our heavy metal results? Do you think we should take further action? Should we test other products?  Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research ReviewInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herd Consumer Wellness Center Labs Heavy Metal RatingsArsenic in Meat and Animal ProductsInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herdArsenic in brown rice: do the benefits outweigh the risks?A Survey of the Levels of Selected Metals in U.S. Meat, Poultry, and Siluriformes Fish Samples Taken at Slaughter and Retail, 2017–2022Arsenic in your foodDietary exposure to cadmium from six common foods in the United StatesMercury Content in Commercially Available Finfish in the United States Author links open overlay panel

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

I was misinformed. At some point, I read that raw milk contains lactase. As it turns out, this is not true! It is true that raw milk contains many live enzymes that are inactivated during pasteurization. But, what about lactase? I’ve heard many anecdotal stories from people who are lactose intolerant... but can handle raw milk or fermented dairy. If raw milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheese doesn’t contain lactase, then why is that?