'Camembert crisis': experts warn soft cheeses may be on the brink of extinction

According to the French Centre for Scientific Research, the bacterium used to make such deliciousness as camembert and brie may be running out.

Transcript

00:00 Everybody panic! Camembert is going extinct.

00:03 So professor, would you say it's time for everyone to panic?

00:07 Yes I would kid.

00:08 According to the French Center for Scientific Research, the bacterium used to make such deliciousness as this camembert

00:16 and other soft cheeses like brie and even some blue cheeses, that may be running out.

00:22 And you know what that means? Girl dinner is officially cancelled.

00:27 Ask me if I like cheese.

00:31 Do you like cheese?

00:34 Why yes I do. My favourite's Gouda.

00:37 Since the 1800s, the French had used a single strand of bacteria known as Penicillium Camemberti

00:44 to make the signature white rind you see on soft cheeses.

00:48 And this bacterium is replicated through vegetative propagation, which means it can only be reproduced by copying itself.

00:56 This process naturally reduces the genetic diversity, making the whole system unsustainable in the long term.

01:04 Put simply, there are a finite amount of times this genetics can be copied before it all goes a bit haywire.

01:11 Cheese.

01:12 Thankfully there is a small glimmer of light at the end of this otherwise extraordinarily dark tunnel for cheese lovers such as myself.

01:22 A genetically similar bacteria known as Penicillium Biforme has been found.

01:28 And thank god a soft cheese saviour has emerged because frankly a world without cheese would be unbiblical.

01:36 Don't believe me?

01:38 And Jesus said unto them, "Blessed are the cheesemakers, for they will be called the sons and daughters of God."

01:50 Who am I to disagree with Jesus?

01:53 Oh, what for the love of God is that?

01:56 It's a statue you wanted.

01:58 What? No it's not Kim.

01:59 Yes it is, it's a statue of little baby cheeses.

02:03 Little baby cheeses?

02:05 Oh little baby Jesus Kim, Jesus.

02:09 Oh Jesus.

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