Cheese whiz, two companies to plead in mislabeled product case
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A woman whose family controls a Western Pennsylvania cheese empire will plead guilty – along with two of her companies – to charges they misbranded and mislabeled grated cheese that contained too little cheese and too much cellulose made from wood pulp.
Michelle Myrter is scheduled to plead guilty Friday morning before a federal judge in Pittsburgh. She’ll also be pleading guilty on behalf of International Packing LLC and Universal Cheese and Drying Inc., two Slippery Rock businesses that packaged and allegedly mislabeled the cheese made by family-owned Castle Cheese. Myrter is vice president of Castle and an officer in the others.
A defense attorney for the company declined comment in advance of the guilty pleas.
Myrter faces up to a year in prison and a $500,000 fine.