Is anything worse than knowing Nirvana, and then having it taken away?
Such is the dilemma that we - lovers of Greece's thick, creamy "Total" brand yogurt - find ourselves in with the latest move by the US Food and Drug Administration:
Fage Total Greek Yogurt had to stop sales after the US Food and Drug Administration discovered that the company did not have proper certification for interstate sales, according to Antonios Maridakis, general manager of Fage USA. "It has nothing to do with the product," Maridakis said in a phone interview from Athens. "This is not a quality issue."
During a promotion at Whole Foods Market, Maridakis said, a competitor notified the FDA that Fage was not on the agency's list of authorized interstate milk shippers, a designation that requires certification of a dairy producer's sanitation processes. As a result, Fage, which started selling in the United States in 2000, is losing $500,000 a week in business here while it attempts to convince any state where it does business to send inspectors to Greece.
What is it with the FDA and dairy products? I'm particularly disappointed that I can't get a hold of some of the gorgeous unpasteurized cheeses that hale from Italy, France and Spain.
Then again, according to the Los Angeles Times' David Shaw, dairy isn't in the spotlight alone. Apparently, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has it in for saucisson and duck:
Unlike a chef friend of mine who used to smuggle in ortolans (tiny, delectable French birds) packed amid his wife's underwear, we were completely open and aboveboard...We figured that if anything were confiscated, we wouldn't protest. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Much to my surprise and delight, the inspector said the only items we couldn't bring in were those she broadly characterized as "meat"
That is truly awful news! I love the strawberries-on-the-side variety of that creamy whole-milk yogurt. What am I going to eat for breakfast now?
Posted by: Salli Vates | September 11, 2004 at 02:17 PM
Well, as long as we have it all straight now.
Posted by: Dr. Biggles | September 13, 2004 at 08:31 PM
Huh? Dr. Biggles - I'm a bit confused by your commentary.
Posted by: the vamp | September 13, 2004 at 08:37 PM
I can't believe this is happening. Someone needs to be sued!Like the FDA for example!!!
Posted by: janice | September 14, 2004 at 07:46 PM
This is ridiculous! Instead of going after the companies that sell us all junk food, they go after some products that not only are they natural but are necessary for our health! Some goverment agencies REALLY have to do their job right!
Posted by: Ariadne | September 14, 2004 at 07:54 PM