Why does Swiss cheese have holes in it?
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No one wants to face up to this squarely, so I guess it’s up to me. Swiss cheese has holes in it because of bacteria passing gas. Contemplating a typical piece of Swiss cheese, the majority of whose holes, by USDA regulation, must measure between 11/16 and 13/16 of an inch in diameter, you may think: Here was a little microbe with a serious case of indigestion. But actually it’s the work of armies of microbes, specifically Propionibacteria shermanii. The P. shermanii consume the lactic acid excreted by other bacteria (the ones that cause the milk to turn into cheese in the first place) and belch, toot, and otherwise exude copious amounts of carbon dioxide. This produces what the Swiss-cheese industry, hoping to distract you from the reality of the matter, calls “eyes.” It’s a beautiful, natural process, with the advantage that it enables cheese makers to charge good money for a product that by law is partly air.
TO THE TEEMING MILLIONS
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