Posted on 05/28/2015 10:05:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
Eureka! After about a century of research, Swiss scientists have finally cracked the mystery of the holes in Swiss cheese.
Despite what you may have been told as a child, they are not caused by mice nibbling away inside cheese wheels.
Experts from Agroscope, a state centre for agricultural research, said the phenomenon—which marks famous Swiss cheeses such as Emmental and Appenzell—was caused by tiny bits of hay present in the milk and not bacteria as previously thought.
They found that the mystery holes in such cheeses became smaller or disappeared when milk used for cheese-making was extracted using modern methods.
"It's the disappearance of the traditional bucket" used during milking that caused the difference, said Agroscope spokesman Regis Nyffeler, adding that bits of hay fell into it and then eventually caused the holes.
Agroscope said the subject had been under study since at least 1917 when American William Clark published a detailed study and came to the conclusion that it was caused by carbon dioxide released by bacteria present in the milk.
Agroscope scientists noted that Swiss cheeses had fewer holes over the past 10 to 15 years as open buckets were replaced by sealed milking machines which "completely did away with the presence of tiny hay particles in the milk".
Same here. It sounds weird, but the cheese seems to taste better when there's holes in them.
I get a kick out of one brand with holey swiss chess that tastes pretty good, and notice that the holes are all of the same diameter wherever they occur. Hmmm.
I know a guy who lost his sense of taste,,
it s all about textures with him now,kinda fun for me being the resident wiseguy !!
If you fill Swiss Cheese holes with guacamole, you get Holey-Moley..............
Ah, Georgio! A theory for everything!
guacamole Remember the anti-gun folks want to take the glock out of the guacamole
hay, hay, hay
Thanks Red Badger. Emmenthaler ping.
Whoda thunk it?
It was done in Switzerland and I doubt that taxes paid for the study.
let’s get series, can-t we?
I had passed this article on to a cheese expert and was told that most modern cheeses have lost flavor due to stricter controls and pasteurization. Plus the feed for the animals has changed.
Frankly, I don't know what the big deal is. If someone wants it and knows there is a small risk, why should the feds care? Oh, I know. Silly me . . .
The TSA will also confiscate cheese if you try to carry it on a plane.
Bfl
I hope this scientific study was paid for by taxpayers [sarcasm\]
I am not believing this one. My money is still on bacteria causing the holes.
They do use bacteria now days, but I think the article is really talking about originally in the old days........
Which would explain this: 
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