Switzerland: Scientists Find the Secret to the Holes in Swiss Cheese: Hay Dust

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/world/europe/switzerland-scientists-find-the-secret-to-the-holes-in-swiss-cheese-hay-dust.html

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The mystery of Swiss cheese and its disappearing holes has been solved: The milk is too clean. A Swiss agricultural institute discovered that tiny specks of hay are responsible for the famous holes in traditional Swiss cheeses like Emmentaler and Appenzeller. As milk matures into cheese, these microscopically small hay particles help create the holes in the cheese. The government-funded Agroscope Institute said in a statement on Thursday that the transition from age-old milking methods in barns to fully automated, industrial milking systems had caused the holes to decline during the past 15 years. In a series of tests, scientists added different amounts of hay dust to the milk and discovered that it allowed them to regulate the number of holes.