a day ago
Top British restaurants and delis set to run out of cheese after 'overzealous' border officials slapped a ban on mozzarella and brie from Europe
British restaurants and delis could run out of cheese after 'overzealous' border officials slapped an import ban on unpasteurised soft cheeses such as mozzarella and brie from Italy and France.
A surge in cases of lumpy skin disease (LSD) among cattle in the continental nations prompted UK health officials to halt the importation of unpasteurised dairy products produced any time after May 23.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the ban was to protect the health of UK animals from disease, but critics and importers have labelled the move as 'overkill'.
And while the government says pasteurised cheeses are allowed through, cheesemongers say they cannot sell the very best soft cheeses from the continent.
Hard cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano which are also made with unpasteurised milk will also run into trouble while the ban is in effect.
Italy confirmed an outbreak of LSD last month on June 21, while France confirmed its own outbreak eight days later.
Health officials slapped a ban on the importation of live animals, germplasm such as sperm and embryos, offal, raw dairy products (including cheeses) as well as skins and all by-products unless they have been heat treated.
Fresh meat is not affected by the precautionary measure, nor is pasteurised cheese - though the latter requires paperwork detailing the temperatures at which the cheese was treated to ensure it is up to scratch.
Upmarket cheese importers say their supplies are running low - and have blasted border officials for refusing to accept documents for pasteurised goods because they have been written in French and Italian rather than English.
Patricia Michelson, the founder of La Fromagerie, a Marylebone retailer and distributor of artisan cheese, is losing thousands of pounds of stock to spoilage as a result.
It supplies the finest cheeses to more than 100 upmarket restaurants including the three Michelin-starred Core.
She told The Times: 'At the moment, we can't supply all the lovely, soft cow's milk cheeses like Camembert and brie. If people think that they can get what they want now, they won't, because everywhere will be slowly running out of stock.
'From Monday (today) we will only be able to offer an English brie-style cheese.'
Simon Goddard of chilled food distributor Dornack further told the newspaper that Defra did not seem interested in helping suppliers, even when he asked what he could be doing to make importing valid goods easier.
He said: 'We're trying to keep abreast of their requirements and uploading the additional documentation, but it's still not stopping the queries and the endless delays at port.'
A Defra spokesperson told MailOnline: 'This government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers and their herds from disease.
'We have strengthened protections by temporarily suspending imports of a small amount of products from Italy and France, following outbreaks of lumpy skin disease across Europe.
'Unpasteurised cheeses are restricted, but as most Italian cheeses, such as Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Gorgonzola, are pasteurised this should not have a significant impact on supply chains.'
