Microbes and the Future of Cheese

Blue cheese like Roquefort and certain soft cheeses like Camembert and Brie rely on microorganisms to successfully become the delicious cheeses they are. Earlier this year, studies were released detailing that the genetic diversity of these fungal strains are at great risk of dying out – humans have domesticated them for consistency, but in the process there is a serious chance of the small number of strains becoming so mutated over generations that they are rendered unusable.

For blue cheeses, we rely on 4 strains of blue cheese molds to create all the varieties (including one exclusive to PDO Roquefort). Scientists are working with a newly discovered strain of Penicillium roqueforti in the hopes they can add genetic diversity, but there are worries that this could lead to “greater variability in the finished product.”

Camembert, however, is “on the verge of extinction” due to the fact that all camembert in the entire world is inoculated with just one single strain of Penicillium camemberti dating back to the late 1890s. In the 1950s, the albino strain became the chosen single strain in order to have a consistent appealing white rind (other strains produced less appealing greens, blues, and oranges). Like the fungal strains for blue cheese, this single Camembert strain propagated through asexual reproduction; however, blue cheese strains are still capable of sexual reproduction to introduce genetic variation. Camembert strains are incapable: when our current strain becomes unusable, new strains will offer distinct flavor, textural, and visual differences to what we are currently used to.

There is currently a large amount of research underway so that cheese can continue being produced in the volume we currently are. To read more, please head over to one of these fantastic articles about the future of cheeses:

https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/french-cheese-under-threat

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2024/2/10/24065277/cheese-extinction-camembert-brie-mold