French politicians rush to defence of cheese labelled 'bad product'
The controversy is around Comté, the hard cows' milk cheese from the Jura area of eastern France.
Despite its popularity - it is the most-eaten AOP cheese in France - Comté came under attack from environmentalist Pierre Rigaux, who
told France Inter
that Comté has "become a bad product from an ecological point of view".
READ MORE:
What does the AOP/AOC label on French food and wine mean - and are these products better?
He added that the problems stem from intensive dairy farming in the region which result in polluted rivers, and called on people to avoid Comté.
His comments naturally sparked a furious reaction from farmers in the eastern Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, while politicians have also rushed to defend the cheese.
The local préfet tweeted: "Ban it? You might as well ban sunsets over the Jura! Let's be serious", adding the hashtag TouchePasAuComté (hands off Comté).
Politicians on a national level
also got involved
, with several calling to "protect' Comté. Right-winger Laurent Wauquiez said that the attempts to limit Comté consumption was "the project of a France without identity or flavour".
Green party leader Marine Tondelier released a statement from the party to "set the record straight on Comté", saying: "The Ecologistes party has never asked us to stop eating it, far less ban it."
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The local chapter of the party the Franche-Comté Ecologistes also reiterated their support for the dairy industry, "built on cooperative values and exemplary organisation", while adding that it was "not possible to deny the environmental impact of cattle breeding and cheese dairies, even under the AOP label'.
The process of making the highly popular Comté cheese forms a major part of the plot in the award-winning French film Vingt Dieux, which has been released in cinemas in the UK, US and Australia under the title Holy Cow.
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