1. Product overview

1.1 Product description

Raclette cheese belongs to the washed-grain uncooked pressed family, i.e. a cheese obtained after rapid coagulation (less than 1 h), followed by gel cutting + stirring + heating (< 40°C) with delactosage and pressing. In France, this cheese is defined in cheese decree no. 2007-628 of April 27, 2007, as a product made from pasteurized or raw cow's milk, with no specific origin. It must be matured for at least 8 weeks and be cylindrical or parallelepipedic in shape (Box 1). Since January 27, 2017, there has also been an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) for raclette de Savoie in France (made with raw or thermized milk), and an AOP (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) for raclette du Valais (Swiss canton) since 2007, made with raw milk.