愛污传媒

Skip to main content

British chef Jamie Oliver urges followers to help solve the 'grate cheese robbery'

British chef Jamie Oliver during a panel session in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2017. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, file) British chef Jamie Oliver during a panel session in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2017. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, file)
Share
London -

British chef Jamie Oliver is on the case of the stolen cheddar.

Oliver, who rose to fame as 鈥淭he Naked Chef" on TV by stripping food down to its essentials, got cheeky in an otherwise serious plea to his social media followers to help solve the mystery of the missing 22 metric tons (48,488 pounds) of award-winning cheddar worth 300,000 British pounds (US$390,000) that was stolen in a scam.

Calling it the 鈥済rate cheese robbery,鈥 Oliver told his 10.5 million Instagram fans to be on the lookout for 鈥渓orry loads of very posh cheese.鈥

Nearly 1,000 wheels of cloth-wrapped artisanal cheddar were swiped from Neal鈥檚 Yard Dairy by a con artist posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer, the company said. The cheese was gone before the company realized it had been scammed and reported the theft Oct. 21.

鈥淚f the deal seems too gouda to be true, it probably is! Let鈥檚 find these cheese stealers,鈥 Oliver wrote.

Cheddar, which is named for the village in southwest England where it originated, is the world's best-known cheese because it does not have the protected status of other regional products like champagne and, thus, is produced in many countries. But there are only a small number of real British cheddar makers, Oliver said.

鈥淭hese are some of the cheeses, or most of them, that got nicked,鈥 he said in a video accompanying his post.

The cheeses were from three makers: Hafod Welsh organic cheddar, Westcombe cheddar, and Pitchfork cheddar.

Detectives at Scotland Yard and international authorities are searching for the culprits.

, a distributor, wholesaler, and retailer of British artisanal cheese, has asked international cheesemongers to be on the lookout for the stolen cheese, particularly in 10-kilogram (22-pound) and 24-kilogram (52-pound) blocks.

鈥淚f anyone hears anything about posh cheese going for cheap, it鈥檚 probably some wrong鈥檜ns," Oliver said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Recounts began Sunday afternoon in two ridings where candidates were separated by fewer than 100 votes following the initial count in the B.C. election.

A pair of new pre-election polls indicate that the Saskatchewan NDP has a slight lead ahead of election day.

A 17-year-old Ottawa driver was caught speeding nearly 90 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 417.

With a provincial election announcement expected Sunday, Nova Scotia鈥檚 political party leaders have announced events.

Local Spotlight

The Westfield & District Recreation Association hosted its first Witches and Warlocks on the Water event Saturday, with costumed paddlers in pointed hats launching from Westfield Beach.

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.