In Switzerland most of the traditional cheese varieties are made from raw milk. Their manufacture adheres to strict
rules, so as to guarantee quality and purity of the end product. This raises production costs and means consumers pay
more. It also opens the door to cut-rate forgeries claiming to be made to the stringent standards and causing
considerable economic losses to the entire dairy sector. In order to combat product counterfeiting, Agroscope has
developed proof-of-origin cultures that allow the identification of copycats. The proof-of-origin cultures are used for the
protection of several traditional Swiss-cheese varieties, such as Emmentaler PDO, Tête de Moine PDO, and
Appenzeller®. A market survey showed that the system is effective in revealing fraud and has the power to enforce
corrective measures.
Now it has been possible to develop proof-of-origin cultures that are also working for extra-hard cheeses with an
elevated cooking temperature and an extended ripening period up to 26 months such as Sbrinz AOP. From over 2000
strains tested, three strains (2 strains Lactobacillus paracasei, 1 strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus) could be identified that
met all requirements.