http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3445671

Authorities seize "bathtub cheese"


Authorities seized 600 pounds of "bathtub cheese" from a small ranch in southwest Riverside County last week.
The seizure of the illegally produced cheese was one of the largest on record in California, according to the Department of Food and Agriculture.

The cheese was seized last Saturday by a multiagency task force that included CDFA officers, Ontario police and Riverside and San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies. Also seized were wooden cheese presses, molds and other items used in production. Two men at the ranch were cited for illegal cheese production.

Officials refer to illegally produced cheese as "bathtub cheese" because of the often unsanitary conditions in which it is made.

Dirty production techniques encourage the growth of harmful bacteria such as salmonella and listeria, which pose serious health risks, according the the CDFA.

CDFA spokesman Steve Lyle said he didn't know where this cheese was being sold. But illegally produced cheese is most commonly sold on the streets and at open-air markets, he said.

- Rod Leveque, (909) 483-9325