on the rind or the packaging
Quality label - AOC
AOC is a label that guarantees best quality. Only 40 of the over 500 French cheese varieties are allowed to have the controlled term of origin AOC "Appellation d'Origine Controlee".
The controlled term of origin guarantees the following product criteria:
- The milk must be from a geographical fixed area, also the production and part of the maturity process must be done in this area.
- The production conditions influence the characteristics of a cheese dramatically. To ensure the same high quality, the AOC-cheese will be produced according to methods which are centuries old.
- Typical characteristics of a cheese such as size, rind, consistency or minimum fat content take part in determining the taste of a cheese and therefore must be kept in strict accordance.
- Production is subject to strict guidelines that must be followed and are supervised by a control commission which represents the AOC. By following these guidelines, AOC can be guaranteed by the state.
So for example, the Camembert of the Normandy can only be produced in the area of Calvados, Eure, La Manche, Orne and Seine-Maritime. The milk is not allowed to heat more than 37 degree centigrade, and from the date of production, the Camembert de Normandy matures for exactly 21 days, 16 of which days are from the place of production. Its fat content has to be at least 45 percent fat in the dry mass , and it has to have a diameter from 10,5 to 11 centimeters.
The history of the controlled term of origin leads back to the 15th century. A decree of the parliament from Toulouse out of the year 1666 counts as the first legal text, which is based on a specific cheese, the Roquefort. On the basis of this regulation, the whole administration of justice developed, which the AOC-cheeses are subject to today. Laws from the years 1955 and 1973 determine that the placing of an AOC-seal is only possible through regulation. Since 1990 this is incumbent upon the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d Origine - National French Institute for Terms of Origin).
All of the AOC-cheeses can be recognized by a cheese connoisseur immediately, however, a seal on the rind, the packaging or the lab el make it easy to identify an AOC-cheese. AOC-cheeses have this seal on the rind or the packaging.