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Article: In a Ferment Over Cheese; Bacteria Scare Making French Review Production Methods
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 22, 1999
- 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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Cheese factory it may be, but the sprawling structure in the heart
of Normandy's Camembert country has the air of a hospital.
Workers wearing white lab coats, caps and white booties wash their
hands as they enter each room. Some pore over test tubes containing
milk samples in a laboratory just off one of the curdling rooms.
Everywhere, the floor is spotless and damp from recent scrubbings.
Even the trucks that bring in the milk from local farms are washed
twice a day.
In the entire production process, the little wheels of Lepetit-
brand Camembert are touched only once by human hands, those potential
carriers of bacteria.
"You can't have zero defects, but we take every precaution," said ...