Tom Scott on why Swiss Cheese was losing its holes (spoiler: the process became too sanitised - reintroducing impurities solved the problem).<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=evV05QeSjAw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=evV05QeSjAw</a>

As a Frenchman I disagree, cheese is very sensitive to environmental condition, in particular during transport. To eat a good piece of St Nectaire, first go to to St Nectaire (eat the crust too!)

As an American living in CH, I say send all of the (bland) Emmentaler to the U.S.; I wouldn&#x27;t miss it! ;-) Inländervorrang for the rest!

As a Swiss, I can assure you that this is false. Most cheese varieties have very strict quality requirements, if they&#x27;re not met, the cheese may only end up as no-name ground cheese for pizza or something like that. But an Emmentaler, Gruyere, or Sbrinz always has the same quality, no matter if it&#x27;s exported or for domestic consumption.

&gt; Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese?This usually happens when one population is discerning and the other is not.

Different countries have different tastes (Coca Cola has a different syrup mixture for each countries for instance). There&#x27;s a YouTube video from a franco-japanese guy who interview a Japanese cheese maker. He was trained by a Swiss person (but in the US, of all places) and softly complained that Japanese palate favored more bland cheese compared to what he experienced.So it makes sense for a Swiss cheese maker to export a more marketable cheese, which are generally less strong and younger than the local one. Just like there&#x27;s an export Guinness or Kilkenny that different from one you&#x27;d get in Ireland.Of note: cheese label are strongly protected in Europe; you cannot legally sell an AOP labelled cheese without adhering to strict guideline about the raw material (including geographic provenance) and processing.

Modern America doesn&#x27;t seem to have much of a culture of cheese.I&#x27;ve just visited New Orleans, and the selection of cheese available in supermarkets was extremely limited. I recall the same issue from past visits elsewhere in the US. The fist time I visited I was horrified to see fake Bega cheese.For more choice in New Orleans I would have needed to go to a cheese shop&#x2F;restaurant chain called the St James Cheese Company (I didn&#x27;t visit it).I watched someone cooking a hamburger grab a slice of processed cheese (looked like a standard individual plastic packaged slice to me) and place it on top of the burger to melt (admittedly it turned out fine).Oh, and all the milk I found in New Orleans was ultra-pasteurised (abominable taste) - I didn&#x27;t see any standard&#x2F;HTST pasteurized milk. Apparently shelflife is more important than taste. For comparison, Supermarket milk is pasteurized here in NZ (not ultra except for longlife tetrapack) and unpasteurized milk is available in Christchurch (not at supermarket, I think in a shop in St Martins or from dairy 30km out of Christchurch).I admit that here in Christchurch for better imported cheeses I need to go to a cheesemonger. At my local supermarket today I didn&#x27;t buy a yummy local aged gouda (Meyer) because it was USD40&#x2F;kg : instead I bought 1 double-cream Brie (Mainland), 1 goatsmilk feta (Foodsnob - Bulgarian - cheap on special), and some &quot;smoked flavour&quot; processed cheese slices (Chesdale - plastic but I like it!).For Emmentaler, the supermarket has &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; which isn&#x27;t great. They have an imported brand from Germany Emborg Emmentaler Swiss Cheese block 200g NZD9.69 (USD12.7&#x2F;lb) which you wouldn&#x27;t buy for its flavour.

Same reason why it’s hard to buy a decent Swiss wine: the good stuff makes it into bellies before it gets to the border!

because their garbage cheese is still miles better than what other people make, and there&#x27;s no cheese market large enough and rich enough to pay them what their top cheese is worth, so its worth more just to keep it for themselves

so a tourist will go to switzerland love it and hate it once they&#x27;re home? very good export business

Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese? Then the world will only know them for that.The holes in modern Emmental cheese are created intentionally. In Switzerland the additive used to create them is forbidden. [0][0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Emmental_cheese#Natural_holes_in_cheese" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Emmental_cheese#Natural_holes_...</a>

Swiss consumers are wealthier than American consumers.

What you are describing holds true only if the buyer values the higher quality, which is true for coffee.But if you can send the cheap stuff and get the same price why not do that and keep the high quality items for the local market?Southern Europeans export their tasteless tomatoes to Northern Europe because people there don’t value tasty tomatoes that much. So southern Europeans keep the good vegetables for themselves.

&gt;that they export the junk cheese to the US and keep the good stuffpeople who produce and sell stuff follow profit maximization. Colombia sells its best coffee on the export market because there it will command the highest prices. The people who live in wine growing regions (agricultural) do not have the disposable income to afford expensive wines, so they are shipped to cities. Great croissants are sold locally because they don&#x27;t last long being shipped. It&#x27;s not more than profit maximization.

If you believe that price equals quality, the fact that Switzerland is an order of magnitude richer than Peru - and considerably richer than the US - might make all the difference.

I think perhaps what is going on here is that the most commonly exported variety of cheese exported from Switzerland is Emmentaler, which matches the US taste profile (and has holes), but in Switzerland is considered a rather bland variety compared to e.g. Gruyere or Appenzeller. Maybe that got a bit exaggerated and it was labeled as &quot;junk&quot; cheese somewhere along the chain of communication.

I don’t think this is true, wherever I’ve traveled the opposite has held - the finest materials are exported which is sad for the locals. Right away Wool stuck out as an example from Peru. I naively thought that going to Peru would guarantee me the finest wool at the best prices. Anyway I’d like to see some data that backs up the claim that junk Swiss cheese is exported to the US market successfully.

&gt; that cheese does not come from SwitzerlandThe canton of Bern makes an absolutely excellent Emmantaler. It’s the original Swiss cheese as brought to America by 19th-century Swiss immigrants to Wisconsin.

&quot;Swiss cheese&quot; is not... a &quot;Swiss&quot; cheese. It&#x27;s just the name of a cheese, but that cheese does not come from Switzerland.

In two minds as to your sarcasm level. Anyone who has eaten bacon in Denmark or Raclette in Switzerland or a fresh pasta sauce in Italy could testify that the best stays home

Most pork they export to Sweden for sale in supermarkets is awful and sold as the cheapest, worst alternative.

I have heard that Denmark exports their best pigs and leaves the second best for home. Not sure why that should be any truer than what you heard regarding Switzerland and their strategy, but they seem to represent two differing strategies about how to best profit from strong points, it would be nice to figure if either is the dominant one.Perhaps we can ask Italy what they do with tomatoes and parmigiano.

&gt; they told me almost the oppositeFor Emmantaler? Or cheese in general?

Don’t trust everything people tell you

&gt; I presume you mean Emmental, the term &quot;swiss cheese&quot; doesn&#x27;t exist or more precisely has no meaning, its like saying &quot;american car&quot; for example, what do you want to discuss with such a vague term.Nonsense. Swiss cheese has a particular appearance and taste profile in the US.If you tried to sell something as &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; that was bright yellow and solid, you&#x27;d be laughed at.

&gt; the term &quot;swiss cheese&quot; doesn&#x27;t exist or more precisely has no meaningWould you believe Australians call cheddar &quot;tasty cheese&quot;?

I presume you mean Emmental, the term &quot;swiss cheese&quot; doesn&#x27;t exist or more precisely has no meaning, its like saying &quot;american car&quot; for example, what do you want to discuss with such a vague term.Switzerland produces up to 1000 varieties of cheese (still nothing compared to what France produces but its a tiny country comparatively), and literally 1 semi famous variety has holes. Its not what most Swiss folks buy most of the time, that would be ie well aged AOP Gruyere or Appenzeller for example (much much better taste experience than even best Emmental can ever produce).

&gt; Properly formed eyes are a mark of quality.Except when I asked someone who makes cheese in Switzerland, they told me almost the opposite (and mostly that they export the junk cheese to the US and keep the good stuff).As an aside, what are the odds this article was written by AI? It has that feel (minus random bolding and bullet points).

In German „Swiss cheese“ simply means „Schweizer Käse“ or „Käse aus der Schweiz“ - but you’ll usually still find the exact type like Emmentaler on the label and packaging.
So, as a German, it’s a bit amusing indeed.

No because &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; means &quot;Emmentaler&quot;, not &quot;Schweizer Käse&quot;. Quote from the article:&gt; In the U.S., we call it “Swiss” cheese, while in Switzerland, it’s known as Emmental.

In German, &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; is a term that&#x27;s well known, and doesn&#x27;t count that kind of amusement.For example, you could say that something &quot;looks like swiss cheese&quot; when it has a lot of holes in it, like very old clothing. It&#x27;s often used slightly ironic, but that&#x27;s not due to what you state.

I&#x27;d rather be known for Swiss cheese than American cheese. At least Swiss is actually cheese and not a cheese product. American cheese is nasty. It baffles me people not only eat it, but also like it

&gt; Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry...Amusingly, the danish pastry would be called &quot;wienerbrød&quot; meaning: bread from Vienna. like the Viennese only made one type of pastry...Luckily, the Viennese don&#x27;t call it something-from-somewhere, so the chain ends at 3. I wonder if there is a 4-chain of terms anywhere.

Well of course not, but at some point it became an icon. Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry...Of course cheese with holes in it isn&#x27;t the only type of cheese they make

Emmentaler and Gruyère close in texture and flavour and interchangeable? Oh boy, if you ever travel to Switzerland, I recommend you to keep your opinions on cheese to yourself. ;)
Emmentaler has holes, is low in salt and has a taste which is on the bland side (I personally don&#x27;t like it), whereas Gruyère has no holes, is saltier and has a much richer and &quot;rounder&quot; flavour. It comes in different stages of ripening, from young, which is soft in texture and mild, to old, which is hard and has a much stronger flavour. I personally like Gruyère mi-salé a lot, the semi-ripened one. It&#x27;s close to a perfect cheese if you ask me.

I am from Spain and it is the same in my country. If you ask the average Spanish person about &quot;queso suizo&quot;, they will picture Emmental or Gruyere with the stereotypical holes in it.

If they are close in taste then you have very mild versions and sup-par versions of them.

In the UK it&#x27;s fairly common to use the term &quot;Swiss cheese&quot;. Most people would know you are talking about Emmental or Gruyere and it would have the bubbles&#x2F;holes in it.Although they are not the same cheese, they are quite close in texture and flavour and are fairly interchangeable to the point where I don&#x27;t think a significant number of people could tell you which was which.There is also the Swiss Cheese Model which is when several unfortunate events all line up to cause a major incident.

It&#x27;s like British English, or Chinese cuisine.

There is more than one kind of cheese in America, but only one is called &quot;American cheese&quot; (and it isn&#x27;t actually, legally cheese, BTW...).

Only in France. For some reason, the names for Gruyère and Emmental got swapped there.

As noted in the article, it is the cheese internationally known as Emmental, not Gruyère. Both Swiss and Gruyere cheese are regulated food names in the US Swiss (Emmentaler is an alternative name in the regs, but is a label of geographic origin in Switzerland) is defined at 21 CFR § 133.195, Gruyere at 21 CFR § 133.149.

Which has no holes. (The cheese known as Gruyère in Switzerland, I mean.)

American Swiss cheese developed from Emmental cheese.

I live in the country, and when I went to USA I found it amusing that a sandwich&#x27;s ingredients include &quot;Swiss&quot;. (No mention of &quot;cheese&quot;)

&gt; never made the connection between swiss cheese and SwitzerlandThat is... staggering to me.OTOH, I have seen people genuinely ask &quot;why is the Mexican language called &#x27;Spanish&#x27;?&quot;

&gt; honestly never made the connection between swiss cheese and SwitzerlandSwiss cheese usually refers to Emmentaler. It comes from the Emme Valley, in Bern canton. It’s delicious and one of the OG three of Depression-era fondue. (Gruyère and Appenzeller. Vacherin can come too.)It’s called Swiss cheese because Wisconsin has a sizable 19th century ethnically Swiss diaspora. (Wisconsin also has a diaspora from Parma. It’s suspected the soft cheese they make is closer to what Parmesan was before WWII than Parmigiano Reggiano, though I personally find the latter tastier.)

When I was in the US and told people I was from Switzerland or said &#x27;Swiss&#x27; most people said &#x27;I love Sweden&#x27;. So I&#x27;m not surprised.

Call me naive, but honestly never made the connection between swiss cheese and Switzerland.

The term &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; is a constant source of amusement for people from Europe... you know, like, there is only one type of cheese made in Switzerland...

I love that the first sentence of the article has the simple answer, and as you read more, you get more detail. The opposite of the &quot;click bait&quot; trend.

&gt; &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; is apparently a specific brand of cheese in the USType. And there are lots of non-Swiss Emmantaler producers.

TIL &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; is apparently a specific brand of cheese in the US and not just cheese from Switzerland.

That&#x27;s a good idea, but if the holes collapse I expect more variation in size. My guess is that the CO2 diffuses until it finds a nearby hole.Did someone put a whole cheese in MNR to track the holes? (I guess an ultrasound image device is cheaper. Is it possible to use a CT adding contrast to the cheese?)

Many small holes collapsing into a few large ones, perhaps? You can sometimes see where two holes merged.

Havarti has a lot of small holes, but its a different kind of cheese

I don&#x27;t believe Baby Swiss is actually a variety of Swiss (Emmental) cheese, rather than a completely different cheese. IIRC Baby Swiss was invented in America and uses a different process.I am not familiar with Lacey Swiss so no opinion on that one.

Baby Swiss and Lacey Swiss are small hole varieties.

But ... why only a few big holes? Sometimes &quot;fresh cheese&quot; develop a lot of small holes (and a strong flavor), but no big holes. Why big holes?

I believe one of the first publications explaining the phenomenon dates back to 2015. 
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;S0958694615000631" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;S095869461...</a> 
It details the formation of the holes, their size, etc. 
I remember sending it at the time as a contribution here, thinking the topic was worth interest. Unfortunately, it fell through the cracks. 
I had also submitted it for approval to the Ig Nobel committee (it diverges somewhat, strictly speaking, from the philosophy of the prize). I received a reply saying it would be reviewed.

The fancy Emmentaler sometimes has water in the holes. So that increases the weight.

Isn&#x27;t cheese usually sold by weight? So your theory, erm, has holes in it.

Fun fact, but also fake news. Emmethaler cheese has holes even in Switzerland. It&#x27;s the only part of that cheese that tastes any good, so why remove them?

And how would they know if my cheese has holes, given that there is a non-zero probability that a random cut over a piece of cheese goes through no holes at all? They would have to make so many cuts that the cheese becomes grated. And grated cheese most definitely doesn&#x27;t have holes!

This is bullshit, Emmentaler has holes here as well.Source: am Swiss, live in Emmental

&gt; in Switzerland the holes are not permittedFor Emmentaler?

Fun fact - in Switzerland the holes are not permitted. Bonus fact - Switzerland imports more cheese than it exports.

No, White Castle profits are linearly related to BAC (blood alcohol content).

Because the damn swiss folks really want to sell more cheese,
without actually producing more cheese!So the proper way is to cut half the cheese out, say that holes
are NECESSARY and IMPORTANT - and then sell twice as much as
before. They are a genius people.

We add holes for USA only, because 39% of taxes on our exportations.

Having experienced several of the cuisines rated by Taste Atlas, I would not trust a comma out of their reviews :P

From the linked page:&gt; With your agreement, we and our 937 partners ...937? That is insane. That is basically spyware.

For those who are interested, Taste Atlas has a very huge list of cheese.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tasteatlas.com&#x2F;cheese" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tasteatlas.com&#x2F;cheese</a>

As a kid, I was told it was due to rats and other critters getting into the cheese.I’d then proceed to wonder why no adults thought to throw it out, much less eat the stuff.

TIL that what Americans call &quot;swiss cheese&quot; is what Europeans call Emmental or Emmentaler -- or at least Emmentaler style.

It does not. Swiss cheese does not have holes.

This makes me want to revive my old Curd Collective app.

So in Switzerland, Swiss cheese dwarfs Swiss dwarfs in size.

Swiss cheese have holes so the swiss dwarfs can hide in them.

Yes, it&#x27;s one of the better cheeses if you&#x27;re on a sodium-reduced diet. Fresh Mozzarella is another good one.It&#x27;s a fairly safe bet that the harder the cheese, the higher the sodium content.

Another fact about Emmentaler cheese is that it has a relative low salt content compared to other cheeses.

And unfortunately for one guy the grail was holy, not holey.

I believe bread has been holey ever since the Last Supper.

Actually, it&#x27;s the holes that have bread (around them).Lateral thinking.

Swiss army dual uses cheese as target practice?

Swiss like French have hundreds of different cheeses, so calling a specific cheese a Swiss cheese is like telling &quot;Why does American car is powered by an electrical motor?&quot;, talking about a specific Tesla car while you have hundreds of other cars manufactured in the US.

Like &quot;parmesan&quot; the cheap versions you find easily has no relationship with the actual thing, even if decades ago maybe the actual thing was initially imported with no local alternative.

&gt; In the U.S., we call it “Swiss” cheese, while in Switzerland, it’s known as Emmental.What? I struggle to see how this sentence makes any sense. The two products can both have holes, I guess? But grocery store Swiss cheese in the US is a waxy bland cheese product with a slight tang, whereas Emmentaler is complex, funky and quite assertive by comparison. I doubt the fans of either product love the other.

Why does Swiss cheese have holes?