Small producers of France’s creamy raw milk Camembert cheese claimed victory Tuesday as they said a government-run institute is set to rule that Camembert made with pasteurised milk cannot carry the coveted Appelation d’Origine Controllee (AOC) label.

Two of France’s top lait cru Camembert producers, Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mère, announced last year they were forgoing the status of “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée” and switching to cheese made exclusively with heat-treated micro-filtered milk (not quite pasteurized but still an affront to purists).

Lactilis’ spokesperson, Luc Morelon said that although they recognize the importance of Camembert traditions, they’re making the change,

“[b]ecause consumer safety is paramount, and we cannot guarantee it 100 per cent. We cannot accept the risk of seeing our historic brands disappearing because of an accident in production."

In response to his critics Morelon added,

“I don’t want to risk sending any more children to hospital. It’s as simple as that."

Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mere had argued for dropping the requirement that raw milk be used in the production of Camember to qualify for the AOC label.