Angry cheesemakers: our cheese really is better than chicken nuggets!
Imagine making an artisanal product according to centuries-old traditions, under incredibly strict supervision. That product is also immensely popular and eaten with great enthusiasm throughout the Western world. It consists of just a few ingredients, and making it requires true craftsmanship. And then someone says: ‘Yes, but factory-made chicken nuggets are better.” WHAT??
This absurd situation is now unfolding with blue cheese roquefort (and the artisans who make it) in the starring role, facing those aforementioned chicken nuggets, along with the remarkable opinion of the institution behind Nutri-Score. Nutri-Score is a French food-choice logo that translates a product’s nutritional value into a score: and according to them, chicken nuggets score better than the quintessentially French blue roquefort cheese. And that really gets the cheesemakers in question riled up…
Traffic light
The AD features a report on the anger of French cheesemakers over the ‘red E’ rating given to roquefort (the worst score), while chicken nuggets receive a light-green B. Nutri-Score uses a traffic-light system from A to E, ranging from dark green to red. Green means ‘yes, good idea, buy it’ and red means ‘leave it, bad choice’. The label uses calculations based on nutritional values associated with a healthy diet, such as fibre and protein, and turns red when a product contains fat and salt. But, well, that is rather the essence of this kind of cheese. Does that mean you would be better off stuffing yourself with the ultra-processed poultry chunks of unclear origin? Madness, we say.
Blue cheese binge
We can easily imagine that people struggling with severe obesity or poor health are not all sitting around eating entire blue cheeses in a day (and certainly not blue cheese with Nutella..). Simply because you can assume that after a few pieces, you really have had enough, while you could probably wolf down those virtually flavourless, bland chicken nuggets one after another without thinking.
Unite
The roquefort makers have at least united to protest this error in judgment, and are asking for attention on Twitter, among other places. As dairy industry association CNAOL puts it: “Unlike factory food, we are not allowed to add preservatives or products to reduce the salt content. And roquefort with a reduced fat content is no longer roquefort.” And surely it is precisely those strict rules that make these kinds of artisanal products so beautiful and delicious?
Who’s next?
It is possible that within the European Union, such a healthy-food-choice logo will become mandatory on supermarket products next year (for now, it is still voluntary and decided on a country-by-country basis). That means many products that countries can be proud of may soon come under fire or receive a ‘bad’ recommendation. Spanish olive oil from local farmers? Too fatty, they have apparently already heard. The Dutch cheeses we love so much (also delicious in cheese fondue, by the way)? Brace yourself for a popular uprising..
Absolutely absurd
Sébastien Vignette, head of the roquefort farmers’ interest group, sums it up aptly: ‘Factory products that have been processed to an extreme can receive an A or a B, while our natural product is stigmatised. It’s a topsy-turvy world.”
Also read:
- 10 products people should keep their hands off
- Blue cheese with Nutella: disgusting or golden?
- Cheeseboard leftovers: which rinds can and can’t you eat?
Source: AD
