How the cheese is controlled

Every day the affiliated cheese-makers compile written reports including the following data:

• origin of the milk,
• quality of the milk,
• details concerning the production process,
• quantities produced,
• control procedure of finished products,
• numbering of all forms to permit traceability (casein data)
  

The Regulatory Board for the Supervision of the Production of Asiago Cheese, the Consorzio Tutela, periodically visit each cheese manufacturer to check the methods and standards indicated above.
Moreover, since 1986, the regulatory board periodically checks the organoleptic quality of the cheese produced by the affiliated firms. Twice a year, in the winter and summer, a tasting team composed of external experts tastes the products which bear the board's markings and seal and makes out a report on the quality of the cheeses checked.

Click here to download the questionnaire used in this report in pdf format.

This tasters' questionnaire was the first of its kind used for cheese. With a few modifications it was later also adopted by the ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi) organisation.
Since spring 2001, the Regulatory Board is developing the work of the tasters' commission with complex research concerning the sensory characteristics of Asiago cheese. The aim of this work is to define the product according to ISO methods and to create what can be called a sensory profile of the varieties produced. This project is being developed with the collaboration of the Faculty of Agricultural Science of the University of Milan and the Veneto Agricoltura Institute at Thiene in the province of Vicenza.