You may have heard buzz about a new investigation that found unlawfully high amounts of wood pulp in so-called “100% pure parm” cheese products. Now, it seems as if the perpetrators could be seeking as much as one year in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Sources report that President of Castle Cheese Co. Michelle Myrter, who we have previously reported on, pleaded guilty in a Pennsylvania U.S. District Court for "aiding and abetting the introduction of adulterated and misbranded cheese products into interstate commerce, in violation of provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.”
The FDA discovered in late 2012 that the Pennsylvania-based cheese company was doctoring its parmesan despite labeling it as 100% real genuine cheese, filling it in with cut-rate substitutes and fillers, including wood pulp, and distributing it to some of the biggest grocery chains in the U.S..
Myrter, the daughter of Castle Cheese CEO George Myrter, was released on bond and could face up to one year in prison and/or a $10,000 fine, the Gothamist reports.
Criminal charges were filed in October 2015 against Myrter, Universal Cheese & Drying Inc., and International Packing LLC). Myrter's own Castle Cheese Co. declared bankruptcy in 2015.
According to a report by Bloomberg, an industry insider estimated that 20% of hard cheese production in the U.S. is fraudulently labeled, and in the case of some cheeses, "less than 40 percent of the product was actually a cheese product."
For any further updates on this story, stay tuned to DeliMarket News.
