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US supermarket sparks outcry over French cheese map that stinks

Everyone knows you shouldn't mess with the French and their food. But unfortunately for one US supermarket, it seems they didn't get the memo.

Published: 11 September 2017 17:58 CEST
US supermarket sparks outcry over French cheese map that stinks
Jol Ito/Flickr
It was upmarket US supermarket chain Whole Foods that sparked the ire of the French recently, with a map that attempted to show the origin of French cheeses.
 
The problem, however, was that it was full of mistakes.  
 
And unfortunately for Whole Foods, the errors didn't escape the eagle eye of one proud Frenchman known as Mikaël on Twitter. 
 
The French expat, who has been living in the US for a year, exposed the supermarket chain by posting a photo of the map online (see below). 
 
Among the maps (many) mistakes, Camembert which actually hails from Normandy in north-west France is shown as coming from the southern city of Montpellier.
 
Even P'tit basque cheese, named after the area it comes from – France's Basque region in the Pyrenees – is incorrectly plotted in the western Pays de la Loire region. 
 
While the blue cheese from the rural, mountainous area south-west of Clermont Ferrand, Bleu d'Auvergne, according to the map comes from the southern port city of Marseille. 
 
Contacted by the Huffington Post, the US chain said that the map will be removed from stores and corrected. 
 
In the meantime, some web users took the time to suggest their own (more detailed) maps of French cheeses. 
 

While others simply expressed their disappointment with the chain (as well as their love of cheese). 

Some, however, chose to see the positive in the situation. 

 

 
 

FOOD AND DRINK

Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

From cheese types to the amount eaten per year, via cheese favourites - here's a look at how France really feels about fromage.

Published: 27 March 2024 14:16 CET
Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

March 27th is the Journée nationale du fromage in France – so here are a few facts about the delicious dairy delicacy.

246

Charles de Gaulle famously once asked of governing France: “How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?”.

His numbers were wrong. Producers in France make closer to 1,000 varieties of cheese – and some have estimated that figure could be pushed up as high as 1,600.

8

The number of cheese ‘families’ in France. A good cheeseboard in France is generally considered to consist of at least three ‘families’ – a soft cheese, a hard cheese and either a blue or a goat’s cheese. Remember, too, an odd number of fromages on a platter is better than an even number, according from cheese etiquettists

READ ALSO France Facts: There are eight cheese families in France

2.5

About how long – in years – it would take you to try every cheese made in France, if you tried a new variety every day. Life goals. 

95

The percentage of people in France who say they eat cheese at least once a week, spending seven percent of their weekly food bill on it.

READ ALSO Best Briehaviour: Your guide to French cheese etiquette

40

Two-fifths of French people say they eat cheese every day

57

The amount of cheese produced, in kilogrammes, in France every second, according to this website, which has a counter to show you how fast that really is. It’s estimated that 1.8 million tonnes of cheese are produced in France every year.

27

The French consume, on average, a whopping 27 kilogrammes of cheese per person per year.

READ ALSO Fonduegate: Why customer service is different in France

3

The three most popular cheeses in France, based on sales, are Emmental, Camembert, and Raclette – followed by mozzarella, goat’s cheese, Comté and Coulommiers.

63

Some 63 cheeses have been awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée status, which means they can only be produced in a certain region.

1

France has – or at least soon will have – one dedicated cheese museum. 

READ ALSO Three things to know about the new Paris cheese museum

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