After about a century of research, scientists have finally figured out what causes the holes often found in Swiss cheese.

Swiss cheese is one of the easier kinds to identify, thanks to it being riddled with holes.

What has remained harder to pin down, however, is how the spaces end up there in the first place. 

After about a century of research, scientists have finally figured out what causes them. 

It’s hay. 

Small particles of it end up in the milk used to make the cheese.

As the ripening process progresses, the spaces develop. 

The experiments leading to the discovery involved introducing various amounts of hay bits into milk and then taking CT scans of the cheese as it matured. 

Through the trials, the researchers also learned a couple of other hole-relate