France in shock over U.S. cheese winning "Best in the World" honor

Nov 05, 2019

By Mark O'Keefe

Judges at the World Cheese Awards put only one French cheese in the top 15, a national disgrace one leading newspaper calls a "sacrilege."

Based on a review of global food media coverage, the world is having a difficult time coping with the fact that a cheese from the United States has been bestowed the coveted title of "Best" on the planet.

The news broke October 22, when The World Cheese Awards, held in Bergamo, Italy, named Rogue River Blue -- made by Rogue River Creamery in Central Point, Oregon -- "Best in the World."

It placed No. 1 from a field of 3,804 cheese entries from 42 countries.

It was the first time a cheese from the United States won the coveted top award at the contest some refer to as the "Oscars of Cheese."

Pain and dismay in France

Nowhere has the disbelief been greater than in France.

Sky News reporter Russell Hope summarized the situation in a news article:

"French national pride is on the floor after the country's famous cheeses were snubbed at an international awards ceremony. To make matters worse, a British cheese finished higher in the rankings at the World Cheese Awards, while a US product took the top prize."

Click here to see more...

Video: Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate at Iowa State University, explains how soybean meal net energy is evaluated using growth assays and calorimetry. He discusses caloric efficiency, validation under commercial conditions, and differences between controlled and real-world environments. Gustavo also highlights practical implications for diet formulation and ingredient valuation. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Indirect calorimetry provides a precise estimation of ingredient energy, yet validation under production conditions remains essential for accurate application in real systems.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, specializing in swine nutrition, ingredient evaluation, and energy metabolism. With over 15 years of experience across Latin America, his work focuses on soybean meal utilization, caloric efficiency, and applied research for commercial production systems.