On the 1st December, 2007 the famous « cheese law » came into force in France. Yummy ! So my gastronomic friend, dietician or simple consumer here are some thoughts in the bubble !

Henceforth it is compulsory to indicate :

 how the milk (or the cream) was processed : pasteurisation ? thermal heating or microfiltration ? Or if raw milk was used ;

 the fat content count must be expressed, no longer as a percentage of a dry extract, but as a percentage of the finished product.

The latter requirement is far from being trivial, far from it !

Previously :

Cheeses had to indicate the fat content rate calculated from a dry extract, that is to say from the cheese completely dehydrated. It is to be noted that this rule applied only to cheeses ; other food products could base their fat content percentages on total weight (including water). This choice is explained by the fact that in cheese, if fat content remains ever present, water content can vary enormously :

 from one cheese to another during an identical manufacturing process,
  throughout the life of the same cheese, as it is being refined it dries out and loses water, and therefore weight (up to 50% !). This method of calculation which from the outset excludes water and its variable character, aimed at maintaining a permanently constant rate, and thus above all facilitating controls by conserving fixed scales to be respected. Yet this method also had huge disadvantages, which undeniably damaged the image of cheese :

1. A “simple” comparison of fat content rates with those of other foodstuffs, without taking into account the difference in calculation, gave cheese its “bad reputation” as a very fatty food. This is patently false as the element most present in cheese is water.

2. It has been commonly accepted that soft cheeses are more “fatty” than hard cheeses ; this is a second error, since beyond their texture, the soft variety contains more water therefore … proportionally less fat than the hard type, milk quality being equal !

3. Since the percentage of water is never mentioned (because it is variable), it was quite simply impossible to know exactly the quantity of fat ingested !

Now :

This fat content rate has been lined up with that of other foodstuffs. Of course this has had the effect of demonstrating the undeniable advantage of easily comparing the rates, and being able to declare that those of cheeses have … come down considerably. This rate has become a significant indicator of the authentic fat content of the cheese ingested. This is true, but only for a given moment ! Let us not forget that cheese is a product that develops ; its fat content increases as it loses water … This is not a perfect method.

And even starting with the best will in the world (better information to the consumer) it turns out to be impossible, not to say a real “nonsense” in the case of farm cheeses. The method might even become part of the agro-industrialization of the sector, and promote the disappearance of the quality and know-how of farmer-producers ...

Explanations : up to the present in France there had been a tolerance concerning cheese defined by the word ‘farm’ . Mention was made of “non-specified fat”. Why should this have been so ? On a farm variable parametres have a very important effect on the result. These parametres are subject to Mother Nature : as a function of feeding and/or seasonal pastures, climatic conditions, as a function of natural lactation or gestation cycles, as a function of cheese manufacturing techniques, the refining phase, etc. From the very beginning the milk will be more or less rich, and consequently the cheese itself. According to season and conditions, the rate of the same cheese can vary from simple to triple ! Today this exemption for farm cheeses has been removed by the new law.While this measure is coherent within a logic of industrial production, it is totally ill-adapted to the farm production context.

In industry, the notion of rationalisation leads to the practice of being on the look-out to eliminate all risks. Cycles don’t come into it, unless it can improve yields. And if the packaging on a given cheese declares it to have “20% fat content”, so be it : the control is in place, and skimming or additions can be carried out ! Milk on one side and its fat content on the other, and hey presto ! Get the mixer out … Thus the product adapts itself to the label, and not the other way round ! But of course, farmers naturally use only their own milk without trying to stereotype it, rather the opposite … The same problem of means exists regarding controls which have become more frequent, and labelling has to be changed every time … The result is that with the best will in the world, it is technically impossible for a farm cheese producer to provide pertinent information on a label …

The great exceptional feature of the craft of farm cheesemaker, is that he/she has on a daily basis to adapt to the conditions of the moment, according to the dictates of Mother Nature ; from day to day it is She who is going to determine the quality of a true cheese. This is what creates the suspense, and can produce wonders.

Today a number of representatives of the profession are proposing that farm cheeses be permitted to use a “special mention” so as to inform the consumer of their non-standardised character, or with no mention at all, in the image of AOC products (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) which are exempted. An interpretation of the new law is in the course of being drawn up by Atla ( Association de la Transformation Laitière Française, French Association for the Transformation of Dairy Products)and DGCCRF (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes, Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and the Suppression of Fraud). If no compromise were be found what we could then see is a restructuring of the farm cheese sector. Beware of damage ! The word “farm” would apply to only a very few cheesemakers, the others would be farmers in name, but industrial producers in practice …

Xavier & Maya Marin

For additional information : see petition Sauvons les fromages fermiers

 What is ATLA

 DGCCRF website

farm cheese : a farm cheese is a cheese in which the milk which constitues it comes from one and the same farm. In general, this excludes industrial cheeses for which the milk is supplied from faraway sources (often East European countries) and are mixed with milk of other origins.

For additional information : see our article Farmer, craft industry or dairy producer ?

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