Cheese is a staple that appears on every Armenian kitchen table.

Government inspectors have now discovered that much of the cheese produced in Armenia can be hazardous to your health.

And cheese isn't cheap; costing from 1,500 to 3,500 AMD per kilo.

In 2010, the government pumped 126.9 million AMD into the local cheese manufacturing sector via the State Development Agency. A 50/50 state and private company, "Armenian Cheese" was set up with the aim of increasing cheese production and for identifying new export markets.

On March 24, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan released a bombshell of devastating news. Government studies had revealed the existence of dangerous bacteria in samples of inspected cheese and non-compliance with health and safety standards.

Figures provided by Sargis Grigoryan, who heads the prime minister's Control Service attest to numerous violations.

A study of 115 cheeses by 47 manufacturers sampled from 36 large and small stores was conducted. Results showed that microbial indicators of 15 samples from 12 firms did not comply with technical regulations and could be hazardous to human health.

False labelling was also cited as a problem. Mr. Grigoryan cited the example of the "Lori" cheese brand where the fat content read 50% but was 17.2%. The moisture content of the cheese was 54.1% whereas it shouldn't exceed 44%.

After the study, some 615 kilos of bacteria-infected cheese was destroyed.

How the government plans to promote Armenian cheese on the European market remains a mystery given these recent disturbing findings.

Seeing a bleak future ahead for Armenian cheese exports if things aren't turned around, PM Sargsyan has ordered another round of sample tests in six months.

Official statistics say that 1,000 tons of cheese is consumed on a monthly basis in Armenia. This is 90% of local production.

Arman Gevorgyan, newly appointed head of the Food Safety and Quality Control Inspectorate, told Hetq that he's already received the go-ahead for another round of tests. They will also include samples taken from firms with revenues of less than 70 million AMD, something which requires a special directive from the prime minister.

Mr. Gevorgyan says that the tests will be conducted by June 10.

Tigran Gevorgyan, the government's Chief of Staff, says that contracts to export 100-120 tons of Armenian cheese have already been signed. However, Armen Gigoyan, Director of the Cheese Producers' Association, says that he knows of no foreign contracts.

"Presently, there are no signed contracts. We are waiting for various issues to be resolved. They have nothing to do with cheese quality. Armenian cheese is regarded as good quality," noted Armen Gigoyan.

He adds that the amount of poor quality Armenian cheese is small and says that the export contracts will be signed this fall. No one can say how much Armenian cheese will be exported.

Using a bit of convoluted logic, the Cheese Association president said that the cheese sampled by the government testers was from poorly-run manufacturers and that cheese from quality producers wouldn't have been rated so low.

Let us recall that on October 18, 2010, during the 2011 budget hearings, PM Sargsyan predicted that exports of Armenian cheese would dramatically rise this year; first to Russia and then to other markets.

However, according to custom figures, during the 1st quarter of 2011, Armenia imported 219 tons of cheese as compared to 147 tons in 2010.

40 tons were exported in the 1st quarter of this year – a drop from 52 tons in the same period in 2010.

It would seem that the prime minister's predictions are taking place in reverse; i.e. more cheese is being imported than exported.

We can only wait and see what the next round of cheese testing will reveal.