FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Allison Hooper, President

Date: Friday, July 21, 2000

Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Cheese Council (VCC) today reiterated that Vermont Cheeses are healthy, safe and nutritious. The Council’s statement was made in response to confusion created by recent news stories regarding cheese from three flocks of imported sheep in the state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has quarantined these 376 Belgian sheep out of fear they may harbor a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. As a precaution, the Vermont Department of Health has recommended that people not eat the sheep cheese made from the milk of these particular flocks. This small quantity of sheep cheese is in limited distribution, primarily in Vermont, and can be identified by the brand names Three Shepherds of the Mad River Valley (plant number 50-53) and Northeast Kingdom Sheep Milk Cheese (plant number 50-45).

VCC clarifies definitively that none of the government’s actions or comments relate in any way to any other sheep’s milk cheeses, any goat’s milk cheeses, any cow’s milk cheeses, or any other Vermont dairy products.

VCC members, as both colleagues and personal friends, are extremely sympathetic to these farm families and recognize their contributions to create a diversified agricultural landscape in Vermont. In addition the VCC appreciates that the issue of food safety is very important for all retailers and consumers.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies include bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease", which gained worldwide attention from a 1995 outbreak in Britain.

The Vermont Cheese Council, whose goal is to advance the production and image of premier cheeses from Vermont, is a trade organization of more than two dozen Vermont cheesemakers. The Council operates to educate the general public on the high quality and diversity of Vermont cheeses. At the most recent Annual Judging of the American Cheese Society, VCC members won eighteen product awards, topping all other states. Visit Vermont cheesemakers on the web at www.vtcheese.com.