cheese-wire.com

Pressure is growing on U.S. President Barack Obama from Americans at home and abroad to scrap a planned 300 percent duty hike on Roquefort cheese that many say is embarrassing for their country’s image.
The duty, raised by Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush as part of a raft of taxes in retaliation to a European Union [...]

A cheese-related book has been awarded a prize for the strangest title, beating off stiff competition from rival publications on knitting, baboons, and stomach gazing.
Bookseller magazine, which presents the annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, says The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais, by Professor Philip M. Parker, [...]

Swiss people are eating more cheese than ever, but when it comes to Emmental — the country’s legedary fromage full of holes, they are simply not interested, according to a new report.
The Swiss Farmers’ Association and Swiss milk producers say that cheese consumption per person increased 430 grams in 2008 — bringing the amount consumed [...]

It’s not often cheese is credited with health-giving properties, but if Sakhan Dosova is to believed, it’s a key ingredient in helping her reach the ripe old age of 130.
Dosova, from Karaganda in northern Kazakhstan, has a recorded birthdate of March 27, 1879, which if true, puts her 16 years older than the next eldest [...]

An American woman claims to have found an image of beatified Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa in a slice of cheese, claiming the discovery miraculously helped cure her sore throat.
Monica Sliva, of Turlock, California, says she saw the celebrated religious figure’s likeness in a slice of cheddar after falling ill and seeking solace in her [...]

Israel is lifting restrictions on cheese entering Gaza, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says, announcing an end to one of the more bizarre blockades on the Palestinian enclave.
U.S. President Barack Obama had protested the embargo on cheese and other foodstuffs, including pasta, certain types of noodles and fruit preserves, to 1.5 million conflict-hit Palestinians.

The wife of Bernard Madoff, the New York financier who swindled more than $650 billion out of unsuspecting investors, braved the wrath of the public this week by breaking cover to buy cheese.
As Madoff sat in jail awaiting a possible 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud, Ruth Madoff decided to visit a local grocery [...]

A Parmesan from Wisconsin has beaten off more than 1,300 rivals to take the title of America’s Best at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.
SarVecchio Parmesan, described as having a mellow caramel flavour with a crunchy crystal texture, was crowned the winner at the biennial cheese-off in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Wensleydale, the crumbly British cheese that fuelled the capers of animated characters Wallace and Gromit, has been singled out as the star performer of the country’s food and drink exports, defying the recession to bring home bumper profits.
The Wensleydale dairy, in the North Yorkshire town of Hawes, now sends nearly £2 million worth [...]

China is deploying trained sniffer beagles at major airports to track down chunks of cheese packed in luggage, according to anecdotal reports from passengers.
The Website of respected U.S. magazine Atlantic has detailed several accounts of what it says could be an “anti-cheese crackdown” at Chinese ports of entry.