Is it a trend that will one day see 100 per cent slivers of grated Spruce-Pine-Fir on our pasta as fake parmesan cheese? A recent report says the cheese police are on guard. Grated parmesan cheese is now being tested for wood-pulp content found to be laced by manufacturers of the product beyond “acceptable levels”. Who knew? While 2-4 per cent cellulose in your hard cheese is evidently considered to be a safe additive, over 60 per cent of grated ‘cheese’ recently tested by the FDA turned out to be wood fibre. We’re told that cheese makers commit adulterations because it saves money. “Consumers are innocent, and they’re not getting what they bargained for. And that’s just wrong,” says Neil Schuman, whose New Jersey-based company is the biggest seller of hard Italian cheeses in the United States. It’s been suggested the only solution to this issue is for the price of lumber to increase to the point it would not be a cost saving to add to the grated cheese.

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The Lost Tapes

We’re pleased to confirm the painstaking audio restoration of two more timeless musical offerings is now complete – from the BCWLA Roasts for 1995 Lumberman of the Year Duthie Welsford and 1999 LOTY Doug Butterworth. The digital transfers from brittle VHS tapes of Ernie Harder singing “The Welsford Wagon” and “You Are Our Sunshine” available below (also added to the roast song archives at bottom of this post).

For roast aficionados, full audio of roaster Ernie Harder at the 1999 roast for LOTY Doug Butterworth:

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