French cheesemakers have kicked up a stink as the European Parliament prepares to vote on a proposal which they fear could mean Camembert cheese would no longer be encased in a wooden box.
The industry has warned that if forced into something easier to recycle like plastic, the cheese might get sweaty and flabby.
Some have it a matter of national pride for France.
Now legislators will vote on the plan that includes a special exemption for cheeses with the designation of controlled protection of origin.
Jean-Paul Garraud, a member of the European Parliament for France's far-right Rassemblement National, said: “It is a matter of common sense. Don't touch our Camemberts!"
Wood is very hard to recycle sustainably, so the EU plans to move it out of food packaging as much as possible.
The centre-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament with a traditional farming electorate, has raised the issue.
MEP Laurence Sailliet said: “Our French cheeses are loved all over the world. But who can imagine a Camembert or a Mont d'Or without its wooden strapping? Packaging them in plastic would be a gustatory and environmental aberration.
“Europe must know how to protect the environment, but never to the detriment of the specific characteristics of its member states," she added.
Environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said on Tuesday that the EU would make sure that the raw-milk specialised non-industrial Camemberts - those that have a controlled designation of origin - will be exempt from any packaging regulation.
The vote on Wednesday will include such an exemption.
“Indeed, in the EU, certain food packaging made of wood, textiles, ceramics are placed on the market in very small quantities, and many of them protected by the food quality legislation," Mr Sinkevicius said.
“Such packaging may have difficulties to be recycled at scale and is open for specific exemptions."
