Positive effects of sequential air ventilation on cooked hard Graviera cheese ripening in an industrial ripening room

Descriptive Characteristics and Cheesemaking Technology of Greek Cheeses Not Listed in the EU Geographical Indications Registers

Greece has a variety of cheeses that are registered as protected designation of origin and protected geographical indications, and many others that are produced in a traditional way, without such registration. This article aims to describe the characteristics of these cheeses, which do not bear a certification of geographical indication, in order to increase their significance. Therefore, in this work, the scientific data published about the history, production, composition, and other specific properties of some milk cheeses (Kariki, hard Xinotyri, soft Xinotyri, Kefalotyri, Kashkaval Pindos, Graviera, Manoura Sifnos, Teleme, Tsalafouti, Tyraki Tinou, Ladotyri Zakynthou, Touloumotyri, and Melichloro) and whey cheeses (Anthotyros, Myzithra, and Urda) are presented. This information may contribute to their better promotion and recognition, protecting their heritage, and supporting the local economy.

Explaining the Differences between the Environmental Impacts of 44 French Artisanal Cheeses

Cheese production causes significant environmental impacts, which have to be reduced. In France, a lot of different cheeses are available, made from different milks but also from different cheese technologies. The goal of this study was to understand the origin of the environmental impact variation between cheeses made from different technologies and milks and produced using different ripening practices. To do so, the environmental impacts of 44 different types of French artisanal cheese, all produced under protected designation of origin (PDO) labels, were assessed using the life cycle assessment. Cheese technologies were fully described and two ripening scenarios were investigated. Results show that the differences of environmental impacts between cheeses mainly come from: the milk type (cow, goat, or sheep), the milk amount needed to produce one kilogram of cheese, the energetic performance of the ripening room, and the ripening time. Such results could be useful to cheesemakers to identify the origin of the environmental impacts of their products and to implement effective actions to reduce them. According to the results, innovations leading to the reduction in electrical consumption during ripening are interesting to explore in order to increase the environmental performance of a cheese.

Data related to the life cycle assessment of 44 artisanally produced french protected designation of origin (PDO) cheeses

Food production is associated with significant environmental impacts. To reduce these, it is first essential to better understand the environmental implications of production processes, and how these can vary among different products. Historically, most studies in this area have focused on comparing environmental impacts among different food categories, but here, we chose to investigate differences at a finer scale, among products belonging to the same category. Cheese was selected as our study model because it is one of the most popular types of food products around the world but is associated with significant environmental impacts. Specifically, we used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of 44 French cheeses that benefit from Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification. Our assessments took into account all steps from milk production to the end of the ripening period and the functional unit used was 1 kg of fully ripened cheese. Inventories for milk production were obtained from AGRIBALYSE 3.0. Data on cheeses production stage were collected using PDO specifications, technical datasheets, scientific literature, and three expert opinions. Background inventories (electricity mix, gas production, materials, transport, water, cleaning products) were obtained from the Ecoinvent 3.6 database. Simapro software was used to conduct all LCAs, using the characterization method "EF 3.0 Method (adapted) V1.00 / EF 3.0 normalisation and weighting set". Our final dataset contains details on products, life cycle inventories (LCI), and LCIA results. These data could be useful for cheesemakers seeking to improve the environmental performance of their products.