No GM for Grunlander

The main slicing cheese brand from Germany’s Hochland dairy, Grunlander, is to be marketed as GM-free as from October this year. Already the milk being delivered to the Bavarian cheese specialist is from cows that are fed with rations guaranteed free from genetically modified soybeans. This move closely follows a similar strategy by mozzarella and yogurt producer Zott – also at home in Bavaria – in a gradual change to processing only milk from so-called GM-free farms. Both dairies were running field trials all last year so that a problem-free supply chain of non-GM feed for cows could be developed. Control is strict for the farms, according to first reports. The cows and milking routine have to meet even higher hygiene standards than usual. These are imposed by independent controllers. From the beginning of this year samples have been taken and laboratory analyses carried out from every load of cattle feed arriving on the Grunlander supplier farms, explains Hochland.

The Grunlander cheese range is already marketed as lactose and gluten free. Hochland’s GM-free logo will be affixed to all seven present flavours of the Emmental-type holed slicing cheese: classic mild and nutty, light (17% fat + 5% yogurt content), wild garlic, chilli-pepper, pepper, smoked with beechwood, and tomato-basil flavour.