‘Cheese!’

WASILLA — It’s not every day a government agency creates a whole set of new regulations that apply to just one commercial enterprise.

Agriculture being what it is in Alaska, the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s new cheese-manufacturing rules will only effect the Matanuska Creamery. Nobody else in the state makes cheese, at least not anyone who’s selling it and has registered with DEC.

But that doesn’t mean now wasn’t the time to set the rules.

“We’ve never had any regulations in the state of Alaska that explain how you can make cheese safely,” said Kristin Ryan, director of the department’s Division of Environmental Health. “We’re the last state to do this.”

She said that federal rules only apply to cheese sold across state lines. Anything produced and also sold in-state falls to her department to regulate. She said DEC has been aware of other producers in the state and has worked with them. All but the creameries have since folded.

“We’ve had up to three people permitted,” she said. “We’re hoping with some clearer rules it will make it easier for people to get into the business.”

Toward that, she said, the department is working on putting together a how-to guide for cheese manufacturing with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ cooperative extension program.

Anyone thinking of making the move into cheese production can attend a workshop this week in Wasilla. The department won’t be taking comments from attendees, just explaining the new rules and what they mean. There will also be a presentation demonstrating how to follow the rules even if your operation isn’t as large as the creamery’s.

“Even a small, seven-goat dairy can do it,” Ryan said .

The process to begin regulating cheese, she said, proceeded somewhat atypically. The first version went out for public comment and there was so much opposition and so many revisions to make that the division put the regs out for comment a second time. To have two public comment periods is rare, she said. Comments on the second round of changes must be received at DEC no later than 5 p.m. on July 6.

Ryan said she thinks it worked out for the best. A lot of that opposition seems to have died down and the department was able to explain better some regulations that seemed be of most concern to people. An example would be the section that said manufacturers had to have a water source that meets the quality used in public drinking water systems. Ryan said all that means is they have to get their water tested for contamination from time to time.

Of course there’s still opposition. Ryan said the main beef she’s heard from the creamery is that the testing on the finished cheese is required to be done more frequently than in other states.

Her response is that the testing will be done at the state’s expense twice a year and with at least a little bit of warning. And, she said, if other states don’t test this often, it’s not necessarily because it’s not a good idea, as she learned talking to regulators in the Lower-48.

“States that don’t say they’d like to,” Ryan said.

Even the testing the department has done without regulations in place has so far proved effective.

“We have caught three batches of listeria before it got to market,” Ryan said.

Besides the creamery’s stance on testing, Ryan said there’s also a vocal group of goat farmers in the Fairbanks area that want an exemption for very small goat farms. But Ryan said DEC’s statutory authority is clear — food offered or sold to the public must be regulated. Even if it’s a small-volume business providing product to only a few customers.

“Killing one person is as bad as killing 10,” she said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.