Herd control, systematic milk testing, consumer prevention: the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) published recommendations on Thursday to address recurring foodborne infections linked to the consumption of raw milk cheeses.
Commissioned by the Directorate General for Food, the ANSES report aims to "identify the most effective measures to reduce microbiological risks", in view of persistent recall procedures due to infections and in addition to existing prevention measures.
Anses focused on the three bacteria responsible for the majority of poisonings (Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli) and on the cheeses most at risk: "soft cheeses with bloomy rinds" (Camembert, Brie, Crottin de Chèvre), "soft cheeses with washed rinds" (Munster, Livarot) and "uncooked pressed cheeses with short ripening" (Morbier, Reblochon, Saint-Nectaire).
During the breeding process, the report proposes, in particular, to systematically detect and isolate animals carrying bacteria, which would make it possible to "make cattle herds disease-free".
During cheese production, Anses suggests systematically checking the crucial step of milk acidification, which must be sufficient and fast enough.
"If it is too slow or insufficient, it can allow time for pathogenic bacteria to multiply," explains Laurent Guillier, who co-coordinated the expertise.
Anses recommends, where appropriate, strengthening acidification with lactic ferments, and encourages professionals to carry out self-monitoring to detect excessively low acidity levels.
On the consumer side, Anses reminds us of the importance of keeping cheeses at a temperature below 4°C, a measure deemed more effective according to its latest assessments than respecting the use-by dates, which it highlighted in a previous report in 2022.
Finally, Anses recommends that the populations most at risk (young children, pregnant women, the elderly or immunocompromised) avoid consuming raw milk cheeses except those "with cooked pressed curd" such as Gruyère or Comté.
Furthermore, raw milk cheeses do not pose a health risk if they are cooked, such as in an oven recipe.
Anses specifies that "the feasibility, cost and proper consideration of the proposed new measures will have to be tested in the field" before their generalization.
In France, every year, between 10,000 and 16,000 people suffer from food poisoning.
In 2024, an investigation was opened to determine how children who consumed Morbier cheese in November 2023 were infected with E. coli bacteria and developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.
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