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Article: The Cheese Whiz; Solving the Case of The Bogus Mozzarella
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 18, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Like Sherlock Holmes, Michael Tunick uses reasoning, not
intuition, to catch his culprits. Tunick, a chemist here at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Eastern Regional Research Center, isn't
sleuthing for stolen gems or murder weapons, however. He's after
suspect cheese.
Take the case of the bogus mozzarella. The tip-off to USDA
inspectors was the bags of imported calcium caseinate in the
warehouses of a South Dakota cheese firm. The company was supposed
to be supplying mozzarella to the school lunch program.
Calcium caseinate is a powdery white substance refined from milk
and used widely as an ingredient in imitation cheese. A few years
ago, when the international supply of milk was ...