French blue cheese makers see purple over diet labelling, Europe Information & Prime Tales

TOULOUSE (AFP) – The makers of France’s famous Roquefort cheese are calling for a change to an increasingly widespread food labeling system that rates their spicy but popular products as low in nutrition.

Invented in France and adopted by some other European countries, the Nutri-Score system rates foods on a color-coded scale from A to E based on their nutritional value.

Roquefort, a tangy blue cheese from southwest France, is always at the bottom – either on D or E – and is on par with sugary drinks and chips.

With the government considering making the Nutri-Score mandatory next year, they are now calling for an exemption, reflecting concerns in other French cheese-making regions.

“It’s paradoxical. There are highly processed industrial products with preservatives that can be given an A or B, but our local and very natural products are stigmatized,” said Sébastien Vignette, head of the Roquefort Confederation, at a press conference on Monday (October) 11 ).

He called the point system “a simplified logo”.

The campaign is supported by local MP Stephane Mazars, who represents the Aveyron area, where all Roquefort cheese is aged in limestone caves until it develops its signature blue mold.

“The desire to be transparent to the consumer must be rational and based on common sense,” he said.

Around 7,000 tonnes of Roquefort are sold annually, around a quarter of them overseas.

The Nutri-Score system is a voluntary labeling system adopted by France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, but its introduction across the European Union has been contested by some countries, notably Italy.

Supported as a tool to fight obesity and other nutritional problems, it rates foods based on their sugar, salt and unhealthy fat content to discourage consumers from overeating.

For Vignette and other Roquefort producers, there is “no problem with excessive cheese consumption in France”.