“It is complete nonsense, an injustice, to give Roquefort the worst Nutri-score! indignant Delphine Carles, at the head of Roqueforts Carles, in Aveyron. People will understand that it should not be eaten. And yet, the threat hovers well above Roquefort like many other cheeses and charcuterie from the French terroir. This nutritional index, which appeared in France in 2016, classifies supermarket foods into five categories, from A to E, depending on whether or not they are good for your health.
This labeling is optional and therefore, for the moment, absent from Roquefort packaging. But it could become mandatory in the European Union after a European Parliament vote expected by the end of the year. And the producers are worried. Delphine Carles, one of the few artisanal manufacturers in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, has agreed to show us how she proceeds. “Sheep’s milk, our raw material, is indeed a fatty milk,” she explains in front of a full vat. But it’s good fat. Inside, there are calcium, vitamins, trace elements…”
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The curdled liquid with rennet and ferments is cut into cubes, stirred and then molded into cylindrical “loaf” shapes. It is sprinkled with the mushroom Penicillium Roquefort which, thanks to the ripening, will develop the blue-green marks specific to Roquefort.
But let’s resume. After draining, the cheese is generously salted: on the slice, on one side, then again three days later. “Salt is not a good product for your health, but it’s not a bad product either,” continues Delphine Carles, who, before producing cheese, was a laboratory pharmacist. It is a natural preservative. Better that than additives, right? She continues: “It is an aberration to be in the same category, “E”, as ultra-processed industrial products such as Coca-Cola or Nutella. »
How the Nutri-score works
For the moment, none of these foodstuffs display their actual nutritional index on the packaging. But it is possible to know it by using the Nutri-Score calculation tool, an Excel spreadsheet available on the Public Health France site. “For Roquefort, click on the “Cheeses” tab and report the nutritional values of the product packaging in the table”, explains Serge Hercberg, researcher in nutrition and epidemiology, the man who is precisely at the origin Nutri-score.
For example, we take a Roquefort Société (a brand of the industrial Lactalis). “What is problematic in Roquefort, continues Serge Hercberg, is the presence of saturated fatty acids – 22.5 g per 100 g of product – and above all the extremely high salt content – 3.35 g per 100 g . This increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Result: the spreadsheet does display an “E” rating.
By way of comparison, the Fourme d’Ambert from the Monoprix brand, which is less salty, gets a “D”. And the “light” St Môret from the industrialist Savencia, with only 8% fat? His grade is “C”. “When you have to arbitrate, you have to take into consideration the Nutri-score but also the level of processing of the product, continues the scientist. And for that, there is a very effective tool: the Open Food Facts app. »
By scanning the barcode of the “light” St Môret, you get a “C”… But also a Nova processing index “4” on a red background. “We are dealing with an ultra-processed product that can trigger chronic diseases”, deciphers Serge Hercberg. In comparison, Roquefort obtains a Nova “3”: “It is a processed product, of course, but not ultra-processed. ” A good point.
Roquefort: time for the blind test
And in terms of taste? As we were passing through Aveyron, we gave a taste of these three cheeses to a chef who is both local and world famous, Sébastien Bras.
“It’s a blue-type cheese, with a salty taste, fairly short in the mouth,” says the owner of the restaurant Bras, in Laguiole, after having tasted, blindfolded, a piece of Fourme d’Ambert. And the Roquefort? “A little saltier but it’s not at all the same oily sensation on the palate. It’s more pleasant. It’s a Roquefort! As for the “light” St Môret: “It’s a spreadable cheese. I smell sugar (there’s a good 5% in the preparation, editor’s note) and I think the fat content isn’t the same as in other cheeses. »
In the ranking, he prefers Roquefort Société (€17.93/kg) followed by “light” St Môret (€19/kg) and Fourme d’Ambert (€13.25/kg).
“Defending a product like Roquefort means defending my territory, my history,” concludes Sébastien Bras, rather happy to have chosen, even blindly, the cheese from his region. In summary, you should not take the Nutri-score as an absolute index when you are interested in the health benefits of the food you buy.
It would also be necessary, as Open food facts does, to refer to the level of processing (the Nova score). And even, according to each person’s reading grid, to the environmental impact, to the organic character which guarantees the absence of synthetic pesticides, or to the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) which appears on Roquefort and which enhances usually local products. Nothing is easy!