Two Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania-based cheese companies were sentenced this week for flooding the nation’s grocery shelves with fake, adulterated Parmesan and Romano cheese—cheese that wasn’t real cheese at all. Universal Cheese & Drying, Inc. and International Packing, LLC were each slapped with 36 months’ probation and ordered to forfeit $500,000 to the United States, totaling a $1 million hit after convictions for introducing misbranded and adulterated food into interstate commerce.
The sentencing, handed down by United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak in Pittsburgh, marks the end of a years-long federal probe into the Castle Cheese facility operation. Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song confirmed the rulings, underscoring that the companies knowingly violated federal food safety laws while raking in profits from a nationwide scam disguised as artisanal dairy.
Court records reveal the defendants packaged and sold cheese under multiple retail labels, pushing product through grocery chains, food service suppliers, and wholesale distributors across the country. Despite full knowledge of FDA standards for authentic Parmesan and Romano cheese, executives at Universal Cheese & Drying, Inc. and International Packing, LLC falsely claimed their products contained 100% real cheese—when in reality, fillers and non-compliant ingredients made up a significant portion of the blend.
The fraud ran deep. The companies not only misrepresented the composition of their cheese but also failed to list accurate ingredients on packaging, making the products misbranded under federal law. Worse, investigators found the cheese was adulterated—meaning key ingredients were substituted, omitted, or diluted with cheaper alternatives, including cellulose and other non-dairy powders, to cut costs and boost margins.
Profits from the sale of this counterfeit cheese were funneled directly back into the Slippery Rock facility, perpetuating the cycle of deception. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya Sulia Goodman, who prosecuted the case, called the scheme a betrayal of consumer trust and a threat to public health, stressing that food fraud of this scale demands federal consequences.
Judge Hornak, in his sentencing remarks, affirmed the penalties were necessary under the Sentencing Reform Act, citing the need for deterrence and accountability. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division were instrumental in uncovering the operation, tracking financial flows and product distribution that exposed the rot at the heart of Castle Cheese. The companies now face not just probation and forfeiture—but a crumbling reputation in the cutthroat world of American food manufacturing.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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