Prepare for stinky cheese in a whole new range of colours

The fungus that gives camembert its taste and colour is on the edge of extinction, says France’s National Center for Scientific Research. No need to panic, say cheese cognoscenti. The aptly named Penicillium camemberti, found in camembert as well as brie, has suffered from a century of cloning by cheesemakers who favoured the cheeses’ white colour. This genetic pressure has led to mutations that are damaging the fungus’s ability to reproduce. It’s a problem affecting many fermented cheeses and camembert is closest to the brink – but not there yet. P. camemberti is only one strain of the Penicillium biforme species whose members were used widely by cheesemongers before the P. camemberti takeover in the mid-20th century. Cheese makers will have to use a wider selection of fungi, which means less uniformity in taste and colour. Cheese lovers should be gladdened, not worried, to see green, grey, and orange camembert in the future.