PULLMAN, Wash. — Cougar Gold, Washington State University’s famous white, sharp, cheddar cheese, earned a Gold Award at the prestigious 2006 World Cheese Awards in London this past June.
Cougar Gold was one of four cheeses in its class to earn Gold Awards. Nine cheeses were entered.
“The prestige of winning gold at the World Cheese Awards is close to taking gold in the Olympics,” said Bob Farrand, chairman of the contest, in a news release issued by the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
“This award means that the Cougar Gold cheese manufactured by our students is recognized internationally as a “world class” cheese,” said Russ Salvadalena, manager of the WSU Creamery.
The competition attracted 1,500 entries from around the world. Twenty-three U.S. companies came home with 43 medals.
Cougar Gold was developed at the WSU Creamery in the 1940s and named for the principal researcher N.S. Golding. Cougar Gold is aged for a year and sold in 30 ounce cans. It is shipped around the world.
For more information, visit http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/ on the World Wide Web.
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