Repeated Illegal Marketing of Imports as “Wisconsin Cheese”
by Pete Hardin
Question: How can the following cheeses be
labeled as “Wisconsin Cheese,” bearing the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s logo?
•English Stilton ($16.59/lb.)?
•Swiss Emmentaler ($13.19/lb.)?
•German Swiss $6.49/lb.)?
•Swiss Gruyere ($17.09/lb.)?
•Danish Blue ($10.79/lb.)?
•Danish Havarti ($5.97/lb.)?
•French Brie ($10.39/lb.)?
•Raclette Cheese
(Product of France $12.09/lb.)?
Answer: Not legally. But, one firm does.
Same circus. Same clowns.
In mid-January 2012, The Milkweed purchased
nine different cheeses labeled and sold as “Wisconsin Cheese” … despite the fact that those cheeses are
imports. Blatant, widespread labeling violations are
found in these products, including:
* Mislabeling imported products as “Wisconsin Cheese,” “Crafted in Wisconsin,” and “Cheese
Made in Wisconsin.”
* Numerous failures to list the federally-mandated Nutrition Information Panel on cheeses.
* Failure to list the physical address of the
manufacturer/distributor in some instances – another
violation of federal rules.
* Mislabeling processed products as a “Smoked
Gouda” – a clear-cut example of adulteration.
In late January, this publication’s editor/publisher submitted a formal complaint about
illegal marketing of imported cheeses as “Wisconsin
Cheese” to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).
Hard to believe, but back in November 2010
The Milkweed editor/publisher submitted a complaint to DATCP focusing on similar violations by
the same distributor – JS Brands of Wisconsin –
of the above-cited imported cheeses mislabeled as
“Wisconsin Cheese.”
DATCP took corrective action on December 1,
2010 and issued a stiff warning letter to the firm –
doing business as “Steve’s Wholesale.” JS Brands
of Wisconsin and Steve’s Wholesale are tied to
Weyauwega Star Dairy of Weyauwega, Wisconsin.
DATCP’s warning letter, dated December 1, 2010,
determined that:
“… Smoked Gouda product is mislabeled.”
Further, … “several imported cheeses being labeled
and sold carried the ‘Wisconsin Cheese’ sticker on
the labeling. Imported cheeses are not made in Wisconsin, thus can not carry the ‘Wisconsin Cheese’
logo. Federal import laws and the CFR prohibit this
type of activity.
“Declaration of Responsibility labeling of your
dairy products was also inaccurate and misleading.
Again, under 21 CFR 101 and ATCP 90, any food
product that is mislabeled is considered adulterated.
“The labels attached to your dairy products
contained the following information: JS Brands of
Wisconsin, P. O. Box 108, Sun Prairie. This is unacceptable.”
That letter from DATCP further noted:
“The label is to contain: The legal name of the
business and the physical address of the business.
You may not use a P. O. Box address. The zip code
is to be included. Your dairy plant number is to be
included on the label. If the product is not manufactured by your plant, then the phrase ‘Distributed by’
shall be added to the label.”
Repeated Violations
NONE of the labels of the eight products purchased recently at the Woodman’s Supermarket on
Madison’s west side were in legal compliance with
identity/address of the manufacturer/distributor.
8 — The Milkweed • February 2012
…
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ƒ
„
Illegal, ILLEGAL, ILLEGAL!
by Pete Hardin
How many ways can one piece of fancy ($17.09
per pound) cheese be illegal? Let’s count! This cheese
product is labeled “Swiss Gruyere” – an upscale variety of Swiss cheese imported from Switzerland:
‚ Use of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing
Board’s “Wisconsin Cheese” logo on imported
cheeses is a violation of the user’s agreement that
WMMB requires. JS Foods was warned by
WMMB officials more than a year ago about this.
ƒ Despite the fact that the original manufacFour of those imported cheeses bearing the “JS”
label purchased at Woodman’s contained the address
listing: “P. O. Box 108, Sun Prairie, WI, 53590.” Two
of those cheeses competely failed to list the distributor and the distributor’s physical location.
Yet another violation of labeling food labeling
laws is clear from several of these clearly illegal
cheese samples purchased recently: NO MANDATORY NUTRITION INFORMATION PANEL.
Three of the eight cheese products purchased at
Woodman’s contained no nutrition information profile (English Stilton, French Brie, and Swiss
Emmentaler). Meanwhile, ZERO of the four products purchased at Bill’s Food Center contained the
required nutrition information panel.
REPEAT BEHAVIOR! DATCP’S December 1, 2010 warning letter to Steve’s Wholesale,
LLC contained the following paragraph:
“Noted on several cheese labels at the Woodman’s stores were labels that did not include the
nutrition facts. All retail packages of food are to
contain a nutritional information panel as part of
the label, which is in compliance with 21 CFR 101.9.
Looks like JS Brands of Wisconsin, Steve’s
Wholesale LLC, and Weyauwega Star Dairy
screwed up again.
ALL EIGHT of the varieties in question purchased at Woodman’s bear the logo of the Wisconsin
Milk Marketing Board (WMMB): a circular logo containing the words “Wisconsin Cheese” with a forearm
holding a piece of cheese in the foreground and a
dairy farm in the background. WMMB’s contract
with firms using that logo specify the cheese must be
made in Wisconsin. Those same imported cheeses
also contained the descriptor: “Crafted in Wisconsin.”
An additional three imported cheeses bearing
descriptors claiming “CHEESE MADE IN WISCONSIN” were purchased at Bill’s Food Center in
Oregon, Wisconsin. Those cheeses were distributed
by Weyauwega Star Dairy, Weyauwega, Wisconsin.
Those cheeses included “Danish Blue,” Danish
Havarti Cheese,” “Swiss Gruyere.” The distributor
was responsible for pricing and labeling those mislabeled products, not the local super market.
Further a product purchased at Bill’s Food Center labeled “Smoked Gouda” is very likely an import
– and additionally mislabeled as a natural cheese
because the product appears to be a processed product
turers label lists “Product of Switzerland” on the
back side, the distributor makes a false claim that
the product is “Crafted in Wisconsin.”
„ The package fails to list the distributor and
the distributor’s physical address – another violation that continues after a year-ago warning.
… This cheese package fails to include the
mandatory federal nutrition information panel.
Graphics depicting a cow bell-wearing BrownSwiss, grassy meadows, beautiful Swiss Alps, and
the Swiss flag are all very pretty. But federal law
mandates the nutrition information panel.
that lists “water” as the second leading ingredient.
The Netherlands is the major supplier of processed
“smoked Gouda” rounds – due to the fact that there’s
a lot of trim generated in The Netherlands that’s
refashioned into smoked Gouda processed cheese.
WMMB alerted, goes ballistic
Prior to submitting a formal complaint to DATCP,
WMMB was notified of these repeat violations on
products distributed by JS Foods, Steve’s Wholesale,
and Weyauwega Star Dairy. One week later, when this
reporter visited the Woodman’s store on Madison’s
west side, all of the offending, mislabeled imported
cheeses had been cleared out of the store!
A source at WMMB confirmed that the offending firm had been threatened with loss of use of
WMMB’s “Wisconsin Cheese” logo if any further
such violations ever occurred!
Massive, repeated, serial violations!
Consumers deserve honest, properly labeled
Wisconsin cheese! The repeated failure to properly
label cheeses by JS Brands of Wisconsin/Steve’s
Wholesale, LLC/Weyauwega Star Dairy go beyond
mere abuse of Wisconsin’s cheese heritage by labeling imports as “Wisconsin Cheese.”
No nutrition information labels?
No proper address of the manufacturer/distributor on some of these cheeses?
No listing of the manufacturer/distributor on
some cheese products?
Repeated labeling as “Smoked Gouda” of a
processed cheese product?
Adorning “Swiss Gruyere” as “Wisconsin
Cheese” when, in fact, that product carried a label on
the back identifying it as “Product of Switzerland.”
JS Brands of Wisconsin/Steve’s Wholesale,
LLC/Weyauwega Star Dairy has subsequently and
repeatedly violated every single violation cited by
DATCP’s December 1, 2010 warning letter. What’s
next for this serial behavior that defrauds consumers,
Wisconsin dairy farmers and honest manufacturers/distributors of Wisconsin cheese???
Does DATCP have the gumption to enforce the
law against these serial violators of cheese labeling
laws?