From the French Roquefort to the Brazilian Canastra: the application of international treaties, agreements, and norms as a method to base the quality and safety of cheese produced with traditional know-how

Abstract

Roquefort and Canastra cheese are products of animal origin with Geographical Identification recognition. They are made with raw milk in a centuries-old traditional production. To protect the unique identity and quality of products such as these, treaties and agreements have been passed in the international community. At the same time, a debate revolves around food safety due to the use of milk without heat treatment, which creates barriers to commercialization. Thus, international health standards, internalized in the legislation of the signatory countries, must be applied to traditional production, sometimes with adaptations. This study aimed to promote a non-systematic review, analyzing the content of commercial and health international treaties, agreements, and norms, and the Brazilian and French/European Union legislation, to evaluate the robustness of the foreseen regulation processes. It concluded that the surveyed documents have a comprehensive potential for the qualitative and sanitary protection of the products by implementing guarantees that are conditioned to the applicability of theory to practice in manufacturing, registering, and inspecting production in the evaluated countries and considering the need of consumption alerts for vulnerable population groups.