The Danish danbo cheese receives EU quality label

Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Esben Lunde Larsen is pleased that the Danbo cheese has been acknowledged by the EU as a distinctively Danish cheese. Danbo is now a protected geographical indication of origin, which means that only Danish cheese can be sold as Danbo cheese in the EU.

The Italians have their parmesan and Spain their manchego. Now the Danes can pride themselves of the Danbo cheese as their own protected geographical product. It is the Danish Dairy Association who have applied and pushed to get the EU to acknowledge Danbo cheese.
Not many Danes may think about that the Danbo cheese on their rye bread is a distinctively Danish cheese. It is good to emphasize that a real Danbo cheese naturally comes from Denmark, which is something we should be proud of, says Esben Lunde Larsen.

The Danbo cheese has received a so-called “protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs”. Which means that cheeses marketed as a Danbo cheese in Europa must be produced in Denmark. And that the diary producer must live up to a series of demands concerning the production procedures.
Dairy producers around the world are welcome to make a cheese that looks and tastes like a Danbo, but if it is to be sold as a Danbo in EU, it has to be of Danish origin.
It is a rare occasion that Danish food products are admitted into this category in the EU. We’ve had a tradition for producing with distinctive geographical characteristics , but I hope that the Danbo example will inspire more food prucers to apply to be part of the scheme, says Esben Lunde Larsen.

In addition to the Danbo cheese the cheeses Esrom and Danablu have also become protected trademarks. Other protected Danish food products are carrots from Lammefjorden, lamb from Vadehavet, oxes from Vadehavet and potatoes from Lammefjorden.

Facts about Danbo cheese

• 84 pct. of all households in Denmark have bought Danbo cheese in the past year and an average household buys Danbo cheese twelve times a year.
• The production of what we call Danbo cheese started around 1900 as a development of the German Steppen-Käse but didn’t get its official name of Danbo until 1952.
• The Danbo cheese is a yellow cheese with a firm consistency. It has few or many uniform round holes. It has a light, acidic and aromatic taste.

Source: Miljø og Fødevareministeriet