The American Cheese Society is developing some web-based materials to guide
cheese retailers in safer food handling. Sarah Spira, content manager for ACS, expects
to have resources available sometime this year. In the meantime, interviews with retailers
highlighted some common practices that may not be, but probably should be, standard
operating procedure.
1. Keep a receiving log. Create your own or ask other merchants to share their
template. Record every incoming cheese: invoice date, source, batch number or lot code
if available, and anything amiss such as an atypical odor or smashed box. Quarantine
anything that's suspect. If the cheese was on a refrigerated truck, you probably don't need
to record its temperature, although some retailers say they are heading that way. Laura
Downey, co-owner of Fairfield Cheese Company and Greenwich Cheese Company, both
in Connecticut, says that a small, local distributor once dropped off an order in his Subaru.
"Part of me knew it was probably fine, but I refused it," says Downey.
2. Create sanitation procedures and log each activity. Then scrutinize the
log. Sanitizers lose potency over time and need frequent monitoring. A staffer should test
the solution every couple of hours—more if it looks questionable—and note when it was
changed. "If it's not recorded, it hasn't happened," says Kate Arding, co-owner of Talbott &
Arding Cheese and Provisions in Hudson, New York. At the Cowgirl Creamery shops in
San Francisco and Point Reyes, California, managers complete a daily sanitation checklist;
supervisors review the forms weekly and f lag any incomplete information.
Clean your cheese wire between cheeses. If you're using a knife, use a sanitized one
for each cheese. At Talbott & Arding, used knives go immediately into a sanitizer tub so a
monger won't be tempted to re-use it until it comes back from the dishwasher.
Some retailers use color-coded knives, boards, and wires for different styles of cheese,
like washed-rinds and blues. Others use paper to avoid contact between cheese and cutting
board, minimizing the chance of cross-contamination. No busy store can sanitize boards
between every customer, but you can implement a two-hour rotation.
Thoroughly clean cheese cases weekly, at a minimum. Take everything out. Sanitize
all surfaces, then reset the case.
cheese focus
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