News of The World : The Battle of Normandy Camembert...

The small local producers of the famous Camembert cheese seem to have won a battle last week but not the victory! Here is the story, by a true Normand, me, who might not be totally impartial, the Camembert au lait cru appellation being probably the most valuable asset of Normandy nowadays...For me, you just can say you know Camembert if you've never tasted it AU LAIT CRU (raw milk)... one being so different from the taste (complexity) to the texture (mildness) through the smell (no doubt, it is cow's milk...) to the other.

Here is the story (from ) :

France's "Camembert war" erupted in March last year when two big producers -- Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mere -- had switched to using treated milk for some of their brands on the grounds that it is safer.
Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mere had argued for dropping the requirement that raw milk be used in the production of Camembert to qualify for the AOC label.
A Committee for the Defence of Authentic Camembert was created and last month the group voted to "preserve the mandatory use of raw milk in the production of AOC Camembert".
Small producers of France's creamy raw milk Camembert cheese said Tuesday they had scored a victory against rivals who hoped to sell their mass-produced variety using the same label.

Every Camembert lover thought that this victory meant defeat for the opponents but those b******s (Lactelis) fought back yesterday by pretending having found some pathogen bacterias in one batch of Camembert...Surprisingly, the analyse dated from March 13th was disclosed March 20th after the decision of the Committee...

Watch the video here (unfortunately only in French...)