What is the landscape of artisanal cheese production in Belgium?

What is the landscape of artisanal cheese production in Belgium?

INTRODUCTION

Cheese has been pointed as the cause of listeriosis outbreaks worldwide. In Belgium, a recall of Herve cheese occurred a few years ago, due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Indeed, Regulation (EC) N°2073/2005 asks absence of the bacterium in cheese leaving producer’s control. Alternatively, producers can also proof that the pathogen will never reach a threshold value of 100 cfu/g during the shelf-life of the product. The goal of this project is to perform shelf-life studies in order show that some types of cheese could take advantage of this alternative criterion. But before helping the producers, an in-depth knowledge of Belgian artisanal cheese landscape is required. The goal of this study was thus to consult the Belgian producers in order to learn about their cheeses and the way they are produced.

1_{Laboratory of Safety of Agro-Food Products, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech – University of Liege – Passage des Déportés, 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium} 2 _{Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science Department, FARAH, University of Liege, Sart-Tilman, B43b, 4000 Liège, Belgium}

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A survey was performed by phone among 123 Belgian artisanal cheese producers from a list provided by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC), reaching a participation rate of 70%. The survey consulted thus 25 Flemish and 98 Walloon cheesemakers. All cheese factories were fitted to a

Belgian map using the free software QGIS, in order to appreciate their _73,8% 18,0% 5,7%0,2% 2,3% Cow Goat Sheep Buffalo 13% _{Raw milk} Pasteurized milk Belgian map using the free software QGIS, in order to appreciate their

geographical dispersion. The survey form covered all aspects of producers experience, cheese manufacture and packaging and sales channels. All date were analyzed using R language and Rstudio software.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION

ol

Unreachable Refused to participate Stopped with cheesemaking Answered the survey

73,8% _Buffalo Mixture

Fig. 3 – Type of milk (n=424)

87%

milk

Fig. 4 – Heat treatment of the milk (n=424)

SMALL BRIEFING ABOUT CHEESE PRODUCERS

15 20 25 30 35 40 % o f p ro d u c e rs 10 15 20 25 30 % o f p ro d u c e rs 70% 29% 1% Whole Skimmed Mixture 69,3% 27,4% 3,3% Directly after milking From a tank Mixture

Fig. 5 – Use of the milk (n=424)

Fig. 1 – Map of the Belgian producers of artisanal cheese

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors are grateful to FASFC for having provided the required funds to carry out this research work, as well its following steps.

No phone number available

Fig. 2 – Types of cheese met during the survey (n= 424) LANDSCAPE OF THE TYPES OF CHEESE

Fig. 6 – Producer’s age (n=123)

CONCLUSIONS

This survey provided in-depth data on the process used for each type of cheese. However, it was decided to focus on general data on producers, cheese factories geographical dispersion and types of cheese. The majority of the cheeses are made from whole raw cow’s milk. In most of the factories, the milk is directly transformed after milking, without cooling and storage in a tank. Fresh and uncooked pressed cheeses represent around 50% of Belgian artisanal cheeses. All these data will be used in order to perform a clustering, allowing to generate groups of cheeses with the same production process. A sampling plan will then be designed, containing cheeses from each group which will undergo further physico-chemical characterization. 0 5 10 15 % o f p ro d u c e rs

Fig. 7 – Producer’s experience, in years (n=123) 0 5 10 % o f p ro d u c e rs 1,4% 1,9% 0,2% 0,2% 0,2% 16,8% 14,7% 5,6% 4,7% 9,8% 7,5% 1,6% 2,8% 0,9% 28,7% 4,8% Boulette Feta Halloumi Mascarpone Mozzarella Fresh & Moulded Maquee Low-fat Maquee Lactic & Ripened Soft & Mold-ripened Soft & Smear-ripened Blue Pressed & Cooked Pressed & Half-cooked Pressed & Uncooked Ricotta