““Six hundred years after it became protected, there are still only seven producers allowed to make all of the real Roquefort cheese. Today, the mold can be manufactured in a laboratory, but under French law, only mold produced from the naturally occurring spore in these caves can be used, and there are many other requirements too. The milk can only come from three specific breeds of sheep, all of which have to be ranged in this area, where what they eat is natural and regulated. In addition, the time from milking to cheese making is tightly controlled. Every other step of the process, from maturation to cutting to packaging, must also occur here.””
