Anyone know of a Flor Danica-type culture grown on an organic base?

[Stein the Fine]

I'm interested in making an East European style pot cheese (twarog, tvorog, topfen, etc.) for use in blintzes.  From my research I've found that the cultures that will give me the traditional taste I remember from my childhood include diacetylactis and leuconostoc mesenteroides along w/ the usual lactococcus lactis & cremoris species.

The reason I'm having trouble is that I only eat/drink organically raised dairy and am uncomfortable using cultures that were not grown on an organic base as far back as possible since pathogenic prions can replicate in microbes as well as animals.  I've found a source for a mixed culture that has everything except the leuconostoc, but I've read that it is that culture that gives the pleasant buttery taste to the lowfat cheese.  The same cultures are used to make traditional buttermilk but I haven't seen a source of organic cultures for that either.  In fact the only producer of organic buttermilk that I know of (Organic Valley) only sells it powdered, so that's no help.

Organic pot cheese just doesn't exist in the U.S., so I'd really like to get my hands on the right culture mix.

[linuxboy]

Are you concerned about cultures that were grown in medium other than skim milk? There are no producers I'm aware of that produce a certified organic FD culture. But you can find FD grown in a broth that doesn't have skim milk.

Also, organic labels only require at least 95% of the ingredients to be organic. And the culture requirement is to use organic culture only when commercially available. So it's not like their buttermilk is somehow so pure and free from anything that may contain prions.

The aseptic handling of culture, autoclaving of medium, and strain testing statistically pose a much lower risk of prion transmission than drinking milk from a certified organic farm. It's not impossible, but it's effectively a zero risk. There have been no documented cases, ever, of any type of pathogenic transmission. And modern HACCP makes it virtually impossible. Just FYI; might make you feel better about using modern cultures.

[Stein the Fine]

When you say FD is sometimes grown on a medium other than skim milk, do you mean another dairy medium, for example whey?  I understand that great care is taken to eliminate pathogens from commercial cultures in general and that they are highly pure.  They are sure to be safer than many other food products.  My concern is due to the nature of prions--if present, they would be inside the cultured microbes, as they would be inside the cells of a food.  If you eat non-organic animal products, commercial cultures do not increase your risk of disease.  It's difficult to know for sure, but that may not be the case if you only eat organic animal products or no animal products.

Since organic cow feed is not allowed to contain any animal products, not even chicken fat or bone meal, and the animals have to be born on an organic ranch, I do feel the risk of prion transmission from organic dairy is as low as for vegetables (only contamination would come from contaminated manure fertilizer on fields).  Unfortunately prions survive any amount of heat that food survives, so autoclaving is not an effective prophylaxis.  By the time the symptoms of prion disease are evident in a person, it's almost impossible to determine what it was they ate years before that caused it.  It could even be from their mother's breast milk--indeterminable if she died from another cause before showing symptoms.

I may be whistling in the dark, but I'm going to call some small organic dairy producers in my general area, and see if they can help me.

[linuxboy]

When you say FD is sometimes grown on a medium other than skim milk, do you mean another dairy medium, for example whey?

Yes, or agar broth.

I understand that great care is taken to eliminate pathogens from commercial cultures in general and that they are highly pure.  They are sure to be safer than many other food products.  My concern is due to the nature of prions--if present, they would be inside the cultured microbes, as they would be inside the cells of a food.

That's true, that's a risk. Nobody tests for that.

  Unfortunately prions survive any amount of heat that food survives, so autoclaving is not an effective prophylaxis.

Depends on your desired level of n log reduction. A 60 min autoclave will actually denature most prions. But normal food cooking temp will not, you're right. So it depends on the autoclave schedule. A normal 20 mins at 121C doesn't do that much, but it does some. Maybe a 2 n log reduction.

I may be whistling in the dark, but I'm going to call some small organic dairy producers in my general area, and see if they can help me.

Good luck! I know it's an upcoming project for at least one major culture house, but organic cultures are tough to find right now.

[Stein the Fine]

Since I last posted, I've found that fortunately I can get buttermilk from Hawthorne Valley Farm, which has been biodynamic for many years.  They use a Flor Danica type culture for that.  I don't know enough to know how much of a difference re prions it will make, but at least I feel I've done my best.

Let you know how the cheese turns out.  And the blintzes, too.

[linuxboy]

That's wonderful, happy you found something. I grew up with Tvorog, and I use FD when making it now, too

[KosherBaker]

Having been born in Russia and spending the first 16 years of my life there, I too am a tvorog eater. I remember it served not only with Blini, but also with raisins and being chocolate covered. But I digress. I thought that the "Farmers Cheese" was the same as Tvorog. I believe a company called Friendship markets it and it has started to appear in general supermarkets at least here in Southern California. Is this not the case?