GabrielleWP
09-24-2005, 04:32 AM
ADELAIDE, Australia (AFP) - Australian cheese lovers got their first taste of French Roquefort in almost a decade as the government lifted a health ban on the mouldy blue classic.
Officials from the two countries celebrated by munching down the pungent Gallic speciality -- appropriately enough at an Adelaide vendor called The Smelly Cheese Shop.
Roquefort had been banned in Australia for almost a decade because Australian food standards require cheeses to be made from heat-treated milk to prevent bacteria such as e.coli and lysteria.
Parliamentary health secretary Christopher Pyne said the standards would not have been amended unless officials had been satisfied that French Roquefort was safe.
"The approval covers only the sale of Roquefort raw milk cheese made under specific conditions in France," Pyne said.
"Other blue mould cheeses, whether imported or domestically produced, are not covered."
Blue-veined Roquefort is made from raw sheep's milk and matured in limestone caves in southwest France, an area Australian officials visited as part of their pre-approval inspection.
The French government applied for the ban to be lifted in 2003, and Australian officials agreed in March that Roquefort posed a low risk to health and safety.
The amendment to the law was placed on the books Friday but Australians may have to wait a little bit longer to satisfy their craving.
Staff at The Smelly Cheese Shop, where customers ask for Roquefort "almost daily", hope the wait won't be too long.
"We are hoping the process will be about a month," manager Tania Cavaiuolo said. "We won't see it for at least three or four weeks at the earliest."
Officials from the two countries celebrated by munching down the pungent Gallic speciality -- appropriately enough at an Adelaide vendor called The Smelly Cheese Shop.
Roquefort had been banned in Australia for almost a decade because Australian food standards require cheeses to be made from heat-treated milk to prevent bacteria such as e.coli and lysteria.
Parliamentary health secretary Christopher Pyne said the standards would not have been amended unless officials had been satisfied that French Roquefort was safe.
"The approval covers only the sale of Roquefort raw milk cheese made under specific conditions in France," Pyne said.
"Other blue mould cheeses, whether imported or domestically produced, are not covered."
Blue-veined Roquefort is made from raw sheep's milk and matured in limestone caves in southwest France, an area Australian officials visited as part of their pre-approval inspection.
The French government applied for the ban to be lifted in 2003, and Australian officials agreed in March that Roquefort posed a low risk to health and safety.
The amendment to the law was placed on the books Friday but Australians may have to wait a little bit longer to satisfy their craving.
Staff at The Smelly Cheese Shop, where customers ask for Roquefort "almost daily", hope the wait won't be too long.
"We are hoping the process will be about a month," manager Tania Cavaiuolo said. "We won't see it for at least three or four weeks at the earliest."