N.C. sheriff blames cheese for false drug test

ASHEVILLE (Winston-Salem Journal) - An enzyme found in cheese triggered false drug test results that led Buncombe County deputies to think a man with 91 pounds of tortilla dough was actually carrying that much cocaine, the sheriff said.

Antonio Hernandez spent four days in jail in Asheville this month before tests by a state lab came back showing he was carrying food instead of drugs.

A deputy stopped Hernandez on May 1 and found what turned out to be a mix of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough in his truck. A portable kit used by deputies changed colors, indicating the mixture was illegal drugs.