{"id":283019,"date":"2025-07-22T17:04:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T17:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/283019\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T17:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T17:04:18","slug":"brie-burrata-and-mozzarella-are-disappearing-from-uk-cheese-counters-is-brexit-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/283019\/","title":{"rendered":"Brie, burrata and mozzarella are disappearing from UK cheese counters \u2013 is Brexit to blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"

First they came for our meat sandwiches<\/a>. Now, they\u2019ve come for the brie<\/a>. And the burrata. And the goat\u2019s cheese<\/a>. It\u2019s 2025 in Britain, and we\u2019re being told that the soft, creamy wedge on our cheeseboard<\/a> is suddenly a threat to national biosecurity.<\/p>\n

According to a government note issued on 10 July, the UK has implemented a temporary ban on the commercial import of certain unpasteurised dairy products<\/a> from France<\/a> and Italy<\/a>, following outbreaks of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle. The restriction applies to products made from raw milk<\/a> that were produced after 23 May 2025. Thermised milk<\/a> products, which are gently heated but not fully pasteurised, are not included in the ban.<\/p>\n

Yes, it sounds disgusting \u2013 \u201clumpy skin disease\u201d conjures images of something out of a horror film. But in reality, it\u2019s a viral condition affecting cattle, not humans. It\u2019s spread by biting insects and causes fever, painful nodules on the skin and, in severe cases, a drop in milk production and even death. For farmers, it\u2019s a serious and costly disease that can decimate herds. But it doesn\u2019t survive pasteurisation \u2013 or a brie rind, for that matter \u2013 and there\u2019s zero risk to humans from dairy products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But while LSD poses no risk to humans and isn\u2019t spread via dairy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has insisted the measure is necessary to prevent a potential risk to UK livestock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson told The Independent: \u201cThis government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers and their herds from disease,\u201d adding that most Italian cheeses, such as parmesan, mozzarella<\/a> and gorgonzola, should be unaffected as they are largely pasteurised. <\/p>\n

Humans may be unaffected by the cattle disease, but we are feeling the impact in a different way. Restaurants<\/a> and delis are reporting shortages of European cheeses, particularly those made with raw milk. Brie, mozzarella<\/a> di bufala (which is unpasteurised), camembert and chevre are becoming increasingly difficult to source. <\/p>\n

But most shoppers needn\u2019t panic \u2013 as Sarah Stewart, director at Neal\u2019s Yard Dairy, points out, \u201cThe majority of people in the UK buy their cheese<\/a> from a supermarket, and the cheeses that they\u2019re buying there probably aren\u2019t affected, because they\u2019ll be pasteurised.\u201d <\/p>\n

And yet, the sudden disruption has left independent cheesemongers scrambling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing to say is that this news is coming to us only very recently,\u201d says Matt March Smith, director at online retailer Pong Cheese. \u201cIn fact, we are finding out about the restrictions by the deliveries we\u2019re getting from the wholesalers we use to import a lot of continental cheeses. A week or so ago, we were just being \u2018shorted\u2019 on certain items.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those relying on unpasteurised imports, the timing couldn\u2019t be worse. Summer is peak picnic and cheeseboard season. March Smith explains that some stock remains unaffected because it was produced before the 23 May cutoff. <\/p>\n

But even so, there\u2019s nervousness in the industry about what\u2019s ahead. \u201cWhile this is an ongoing situation, and of course we hope it\u2019s resolved really soon, those young, raw-milk superstar cheeses from France<\/a> are our bestsellers, and in many ways represent the best that the cheese world offers, by way of taste, and texture, and of course heritage,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

At Borough Market<\/a>, one of the country\u2019s most important food destinations and a hub for artisan cheese, the mood is cautious but concerned. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still availability of some of these cheeses, because a number of them have been thermised, but there are some products which you cannot thermise and so we do have some supply gaps,\u201d says Shane Holland, chair of the charitable trust that operates the market. \u201cIt\u2019s not like there are suddenly no Italian or French cheeses. That\u2019s not the case. But we are very concerned about how long this ban is going to last.\u201d He says previous bans have lasted up to a year, and there\u2019s been very little government support. <\/p>\n

\"Lumpy<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Lumpy skin disease affects cattle, not humans \u2013 but it\u2019s British livestock that policymakers say they\u2019re protecting (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

Some cheesemongers are working around the restrictions by shifting their focus. March Smith says his company has responded by spotlighting products that fall outside the scope of the ban \u2013 turning its attention to longer-aged cheeses and safer, pasteurised alternatives that can fill the gap left by raw-milk imports.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019re an internet company, we can be very reactive to stock availability and change the prominence of products immediately when things like this happen,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe\u2019ve therefore focused on promoting products [including] more mature cheeses such as comte, pasteurised versions of the classics \u2013 eg epoisses, bleu d\u2019Auvergne, taleggio \u2013 as well as Spanish, German and Swiss alternatives. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we always have a fantastic range of British cheeses that are readily available alternatives, such as golden cenarth (like an epoisses), tunworth (like a camembert), and cheeses like bix, which is particularly French in style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the rationale behind the ban is raising eyebrows. The real question isn\u2019t whether cheese is dangerous \u2013 it\u2019s whether this is about safety at all. Is this a reflection of genuine risk, or of a post-Brexit bureaucracy that\u2019s become too risk-averse to think rationally? Lumpy skin disease, while serious for cattle, cannot be transmitted to humans. Nor can it be passed from finished dairy products to animals.<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s not like you would go and buy an exquisite French brie and then leave it in a cattle field for a cow to eat. That\u2019s not going to happen. So even if there was a hypothetical, theoretical risk \u2013 I would dispute whether there\u2019s even that<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Shane Holland, Borough Market<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger question is, what is the ban for?\u201d Holland says. \u201cWe completely understand restricting the movement of live cattle. [LSD] is an infectious disease from cattle to cattle. But if we\u2019re talking about from cattle to milk, there\u2019s no cattle-to-human transmission at all. Even if there was the tiniest risk, it\u2019s not being consumed by cattle anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, there\u2019s little plausible route of infection \u2013 not to people, and certainly not to livestock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He points out that in France and Italy<\/a>, cheeses from affected areas are still being consumed legally in unaffected regions. That, he argues, is effectively the same as importing them into the UK. \u201cWe find that slightly confusing. We\u2019re talking about banning the import of a product which is consumed by humans, from which there is no impact on humans at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not like you would go and buy an exquisite French brie and then leave it in a cattle field for a cow to eat. That\u2019s not going to happen. So even if there was a hypothetical, theoretical risk \u2013 I would dispute whether there\u2019s even that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While thermised versions of cheeses \u2013 those made from milk that is gently heated but not fully pasteurised \u2013 are still compliant, they aren\u2019t a perfect substitute. And not all cheeses can be thermised. \u201cWhere there are gaps on the shelves \u2013 and there are a small number \u2013 we do obviously have British counterparts,\u201d Holland says. \u201cAnd we\u2019d encourage people to buy those as well. But we also need to keep supporting our French and Italian producers. If we suddenly stop buying anything from them, then ultimately, what is it that they\u2019ve got left to sell?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jose Bueno, cheese buyer at Brindisa, a Spanish goods distributor, has so far been spared any direct impact. \u201cWe\u2019ve been lucky so far, as the ban hasn\u2019t been extended to Spain,\u201d he says. \u201cWe continue to monitor the situation in case that changes.\u201d But he remembers a similar outbreak in Castilla-La Mancha that forced producers to pasteurise in order to continue exporting to the UK. In cases where pasteurisation wasn\u2019t possible, imports stopped altogether until restrictions were lifted.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s also troubling is the apparent lack of communication. Importers weren\u2019t pre-warned or briefed on the new restrictions \u2013 many only realised something had changed when deliveries started arriving short. <\/p>\n

If this were about disease control, wouldn\u2019t someone have picked up the phone? \u201cI\u2019m sure there was a lot of chaos at the borders when the ban was brought in,\u201d adds Stewart, \u201cbecause often when those things happen, nobody\u2019s exactly sure what\u2019s involved. And then only as things become clearer, people can make plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Baron<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Baron Bigod is flying the flag for British soft cheese \u2013 but can it fill the gap left by its French cousin? (Fen Farm Dairy)<\/p>\n

While Spain remains outside the current restrictions, Bueno warns of a larger threat. \u201cWe continue to face challenges with paperwork and customs procedures stemming from Brexit,\u201d he says. \u201cThese have significantly increased our costs and strained certain relationships, particularly with smaller suppliers who can\u2019t afford the added expenses or manage the increasingly demanding conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

His concern is that if restrictions of this kind were extended further, it could reshape the entire food landscape. \u201cUltimately, we could be left with a food landscape dominated by large corporations, as they\u2019re often the only ones able to navigate and absorb the costs of complex import\/export requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one disputes the need to protect British herds. But as the industry braces for what could become a year-long ban, there\u2019s growing concern that we\u2019ve gone too far. That the government, in its effort to guard against a theoretical threat, has created a very real one.<\/p>\n

Still, all is not lost. As Stewart points out, people have been seeking out British equivalents to French and Italian cheeses since long before they began to disappear.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody\u2019s after a camembert, we\u2019ll be able to offer them tunworth or St Jude. If they\u2019re after a brie, we\u2019ll be able to offer them baron bigod. And then, with some of the more washed rinds, we\u2019ve got equivalents like Yarlington and St Cera.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you might want to savour that burrata while you can. It\u2019s becoming harder to come by \u2013 and it\u2019s getting harder to justify why. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First they came for our meat sandwiches. Now, they\u2019ve come for the brie. And the burrata. And the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-283019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114897974954086132","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}