Stilton Cheese

Stilton cheese production which has EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status will not be allowed to be produced in the village of Stilton.  The product specification sets out where and how the cheese can be made.  The cheese can only be made using pasteurised milk in the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.  Stichelton Dairy and the Original Cheese Co. from the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire has been using unpasteurised milk using the authentic Stilton method since 2006 but has not been able to call the cheese Stilton.  It applied to amend the order so that raw milk could be used (see May Bulletin).  Following a consultation by DEFRA this variation has been rejected.

But Stilton production will return to Derbyshire as Hartington Creamery is reformed.  The original dairy was closed by Long Clawson a year after it was purchased from Dairy Crest in 2008.  Stilton production has been given the go-ahead by the Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association, the first new dairy for eight years and will start in the New Year in the creamery based in converted farm buildings on the edge of the village.