AOP
The French form of the European protected designation of origin, found on Comté, Brie de Meaux and some forty other cheeses.
Also: appellation d'origine protégée
AOP stands for appellation d'origine protégée, the French name for the European Union's protected designation of origin. It is the label now printed on France's protected cheeses in place of the older national AOC. To carry it, every stage, from the milk to the ageing, must happen inside the named area and follow a written specification. France has more than forty protected cheeses, including Comté, Beaufort, Roquefort, Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie, Reblochon, Époisses and Salers. The red and yellow AOP logo tells a buyer the name is legally protected, so a cheese made elsewhere cannot use it, even with words such as style or type added.