Hekking organic cheeses recalled in Netherlands

Specialist goat and sheep cheese producer Hekking from Marienheem in the Netherlands is charged with illegally adding conservation substances in its organic cheeses. It appears that the cheese maker has also been mixing organically produced milk with the conventional product. Interesting in this revelation is the international reporting network involved. It was a German quality control association for organic foods, ABCERT, that received an anonymous tip-off about Hekking cheeses. ABCERT, which employees around 100 investigators in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic and claims to have some 10,000 customers in the food production and trading sector, then informed the Dutch authorities.

SKAL is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and certifies all food companies using the EKO quality label in that country and it was this organisation that analysed a number of Hekking products in December and decided to withdraw the dairy’s production licence. Hekking has been making organic cheeses since 1999 and collects goat, sheep and cow milk from Dutch farmers, but also increasingly from German milk producers over the nearby border.

The family-run dairy produces organic gouda, brie, cream cheeses and camembert from goat milk and sheep milk brie. Retail outlets across Europe are being asked to take all Hekking organic cheeses off their shelves.