PITTSBURGH — Two companies related to cheese manufacturing based in Scott Township, Lawrence County — as well as one of their executives — have been charged in federal court for selling imitation cheese packaged as real cheese.

Universal Cheese and Drying and International Packaging LLC have been charged with conspiracy for selling Parmesan and Romano cheeses that were labeled as “real,” but did not meet the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations for being real varieties of those cheeses.

Additionally, Michelle Myrter, who is listed as a corporate officer at both companies, as well as at Castle Cheese — all three companies are incorporated at the same address — is charged with aiding and abetting in the introduction of mislabeled food into the market.

According to charges filed Tuesday in federal court, International Packing and Universal Cheese were formed specifically to package, dry and sell cheese made by Castle Cheese. Castle began manufacturing imitation cheese products before the formation of International Packing and Universal, the suit said.

The suit said that about January 2010 International Packing and Universal began packaging the imitation Romano and Parmesan with labels which said they were “real” cheeses, and the suit said the companies were aware that the products did not meet the FDA standards for real cheese.

The suit also said that the companies charged a higher price for these products, while the production costs were lower than they would be compared to making real cheese.

Stephen Stallings, Myrter’s and the companies’ attorney, said the companies fully cooperated with the government’s investigation and said the companies “long since remedied all outstanding regulatory issues.”

“The companies emphasize that all of the labeling issues were fully remedied long ago,” Stallings said in an e-mail. “No consumer’s health or safety was ever jeopardized as a result of the labeling matters at issue.”

He said in FDA cases like this, the responsible corporate officers of companies can be held liable under a federal statute regardless of whether they had any criminal intent.

“Ms. Myrter was unfortunately the corporate officer at the time of the relevant events, but has not been charged with any felony nor accused of any criminal intent,” Stallings said.