THE protected status of Dorset Blue Vinny cheese could be under threat.

The cheese has protected status under the EU Protected Foods Name Scheme, meaning that its authenticity and origin can be guaranteed.

It has legal protection against imitation throughout the EU.

However, since the vote to leave the European Union, concerns have been raised that cheaper imitations could come in and compete unfairly with the product and other protected foods.

Calls have been made to launch a UK scheme to protect foods like Dorset Blue Vinny and other products such as the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, which must be produced in Dorset, Somerset, Devon or Cornwall.

The Blue Vinny has PGI protected status, meaning it has to be produced in Dorset.

Chairman of the UK Protected Food Names Association, Matthew O’Callaghan, said: “I am very concerned of the effect of losing Protected Food Name status on our food heritage, particularly for products such as Dorset Blue Cheese. Because they have to be made to a traditional recipe in the area of origin, these products are often more difficult and more expensive to produce.

“Protection allows the producer to charge a reasonable price without the risk of cheaper imitations competing unfairly and without any regard to the product’s heritage. It’s vital we develop a British scheme to protect Dorset Blue Cheese and the other 70 plus products that are currently protected under EU law.”

Dorset provides one of the earliest indications of cheese manufacture in Great Britain with impressions of baskets found in the county dating back to 1800 BC, indicating that cheese may have been made here well before Roman times. The flavour is put down to the quality of the milk from cattle grazing on the pastures of the Blackmore Vale.

All production of the cheese currently occurs at one farm in Dorset at present.

West Country Farmhouse Cheddar also has specific criteria which makes its protected status important, including that it must be stored for at least nine months before sale.

Cabinet minister Liz Truss recently called the need to protect British foods a “very important issue” and added that she would like to see a British protected food name status in the future.

There are currently 73 foods listed for protection from the UK including the Cornish pasty, Cumberland sausage and Melton Mowbray pork pie. They are believed to be worth around £1billion in sales each year.