Others see more Machiavellian design, claiming Lactalis and Isigny Cooperative are acting out of purely business motives. "Their real reason is that they want to step up production, and it is impossible to do that using lait cru," said Gerard Roger, president of the newly-created Defence Committee for Authentic Camembert.

"What this is all about is the limits of mass marketing. A behemoth like Lactalis cannot answer to the needs of the real Camembert -- which is not just a cheese but part of our culture."

Half a century ago there were scores of independent dairies across the Normandy region of northwest France making lait cru Camembert, but now the number has dwindled to just five -- as Lactalis has steadily bought up nearly all the small family-run operations. In 2006 Lactalis produced 8,000 tonnes of certified raw milk Camembert, alongside even vaster quantities of pasteurized facsimiles.

"They have already introduced machines for pouring out the curds, while we continue to use hand-held ladles. Now they are switching to treated milk, because they cannot make lait cru Camembert on the scale they want," Roger explained. "It will kill lait cru because there will be nothing to distinguish our authentic Camemberts from their ones," he said. "And if we lose lait cru, we'll never get it back. The culture, the knowledge, the methods -- they'll all be gone for good. Camembert does not exist unless it is made with untreated milk. Lait cru is what gives the richness, the taste, the originality. If you heat the milk, you'll still have a cheese, but it won't be Camembert."

For cheese-lovers, the difference between a genuine Normandy lait cru Camembert and the common supermarket pasteurized variety is like vintage wine versus mass-produced vin de table.