The Story of French Comté Cheese: Food and Its Place of Origin Certified Together

I am a twenty-one-year-old French woman, and I came to Taiwan, China, as an exchange student for half a year. I used to live in Paris, and I was also born, grew up and studied in Paris. My school is an engineering school that teaches agricultural economics, food production and environmental science. I am interested in food safety, food sovereignty and sustainable agricultural development, because I hope to understand Taiwan's agricultural and food issues. My Chinese is not very good, so I hope everyone can forgive me, and my views are not necessarily mainstream views in France; they are just my own.

The various food labels of the European Union

In France, you can see many different labels on food, and sometimes they even confuse us a little... Some certify the region of origin (such as IGP), some certify the production process (such as organic labels), and some certify food quality (such as Label rouge). They are all official certification marks of quality and origin, called SOQO in French ("Signes Officiels de Qualité et d'Origine"). Each mark has its own rules and specifications.

We have an institution called the "National Institute of Origin and Quality", called INAO in French, under France's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. INAO manages some certification bodies and inspection bodies, because more and more people care about how the things they eat are produced, and many consumers are willing to pay more money to buy these officially certified foods.

The average price of Comté is 11 euros per kilogram, but the more aged it is, the more expensive it becomes (for the image source please click here).