Mystery of holes in Swiss cheese finally solved — mashable.com

The mystery of Swiss cheese and its disappearing holes has finally been solved. A Swiss agricultural institute discovered that tiny specks of hay are responsible for the famous holes in cheeses like Emmental or Appenzell. As milk matures into cheese these "microscopically small hay particles" help create the holes in the traditional Swiss cheese varieties. The government-funded Agroscope institute said in a statement Thursday that the transition from age-old milking methods in barns to fully-automated, industrial milking systems had caused holes to decline during the last 15 years because the systems being used are cleaner.

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