Naked cheese-makers pose in a vat filled with milk in 'sickening' picture

As if frolicking in a giant cheese fondue, the workers posed in the milk used to make stringed cheese. The images, which went viral on the web, apparently date to a 2014 corporate New Year Party.

'Yeah, our job is really boring,' says the caption on the online posting on the site of an Artem Romanov. The friends - four in two pictures and give in another -  'spent a good time cheerfully splashing in the bath with milk used for cheese processing', said one report. One man is seen holding up his shorts for the camera. 

The images are believed to have been taken on the premises of Omsk 'The Cheese' trade house, but a company spokesman refused to comment.

The vat was used for the making of smoked or salted cheese. 

As The Moscow Times reported, the damage can be significant to the cheese industry in Omsk, a major Russian centre for food processing. 

'If you plan to buy stringed-cheese the next time you go to the supermarket, you may want to check that it wasn't made in Omsk,' warned the newspaper.

A clip also shows men wearing only shorts turning cheese curd in buckets. 

The federal consumer watchdog began an unscheduled inspection of the plant, it was reported today. They were alerted by horrified consumers. 

'We are verifying if indeed pictures were taken in this company's cheese processing premises, and whether the pictures of the men are linked to this company,' said Alexander Kriga, head of RosPotrebNadzor in Omsk region. 'There is a possibility that it was a provocation, we do not exclude it.'

He promised: 'The results of the inspection will be made public as soon as possible’.