Why Quebec wants to protect the cheese curds it claims are necessary to make 'original' poutine

Quebec is moving forward with plans to shield its poutine cheese curds with protected geographical status.

The Conseil des Industriels Laitiers du Québec (CILQ), the province’s dairy industry association, is pushing for a “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI), which would enable provincial producers to identify their cheese curds as protected with an official designation seal.

To obtain the PGI, all production stages — from raw materials to final packaging — must occur in Quebec. The PGI will safeguard what the CILQ considers the unique qualities of the province’s fresh cheese curds, such as its meltability and heat resistance.

“If adopted, the milk used to make the cheese would have to come from Quebec and the curds made there too,” Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, visiting scholar at McGill University, popularly known as The Food Professor, posted on X Thursday.

Quebec is moving ahead with plans to recognize “fromage en grains du Québec” (cheese curds) as a controlled designation.If adopted, the milk would have to come from Quebec and the curds made there too. If you're outside Quebec, you’re basically out of luck. Need to call it… pic.twitter.com/kXYnTm79ao

— The Food Professor (@FoodProfessor) March 5, 2026

PGIs are administered in Quebec by the Conseil des Appellations Réservées et des Termes Valorissants (CARTV), which oversees designations for products tied to the province’s geography and food culture heritage. Current products that have the designation include Quebec icewine , Neuville sweet corn and Charlevoix lamb.

The specifications that go into a designation are essentially a recipe aimed at ensuring the manufactured product conforms with desired authenticity, no matter which company produces it, Charles Langlois, president and CEO of the CILQ, told Radio Canada this week.

For Langlois the ultimate goals are to protect Quebec’s food heritage and see how many producers are interested in having their curds certified.

He says the designation will also help promote Quebec cheese curds internationally at a time when poutine is becoming increasingly popular outside the province’s borders.

“(W)e want to be able to tell outside consumers that if you want the original (poutine), you need Quebec cheese curds with the reserved designation seal,” he said.

The dish traces its origins back to the 1950s in rural Quebec, where it was dismissed at first as junk-food. Decades later poutine earned a place as iconic comfort food. Versions of poutine can be found throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe, even Asia, featuring a variety of toppings.

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