The oldest remains in France were found on the banks of the lake at Neufchâtel, near Rouen. In the 5th century AD Roman soldiers and athletes were fed a diet of cheese, wheat bread and figs.

14th century : the inhabitants of the village of Chaillot, near Paris, grazed their cows on "les îles aux vaches", not far from where the Eiffel tower now stands! Cheesemaking was common in the capital.

  In 1666, a decree by the Parliament of Toulouse became the first legal document to refer to cheese - in this case, Roquefort.

 18th century : a dairy opened on the Champs-Elysées. Lavoisier reckoned that Parisians consumed 3 kilograms of cheese per head, every year (mainly Brie and Maroilles)..

  1790 : Marie Harel started selling her Camembert on the markets around Vilmoutiers.

  1857 : Pasteur discovered the principle of pasteurized milk. A few years later, his pupil, Emile Duclaux, adapted the technique for cheese.

  1880 : milk collection started for cheese manufacturing and the cheese industry began to develop rapidly.

  1890 : Ridel invented the characteristic Camembert box.

  1900 to 1925, cheese factories opened in the Meuse department and the east of France. Synthetic rennet was produced for the first time. Roquefort was awarded an appellation d'origine contrôlée.

  1953 : a French government decree restricted the word "fromage" to any product, fermented or not, obtained by coagulating milk, cream or a mixture of both, followed by draining.

  1955 : the Comité National des Appellations d'Origine was set up by a law, voted by Parliament on 28 November.

  From 1973 onwards : cheeses may only be awarded an appellation d'origine contrôlée by government decree, after consulting the committee.