The French are hitting their protein goals - thanks to a cheese that looks like ectoplasm | Emma Beddington

"la cancoillotte (even native speakers struggle with the pronunciation, apparently), a liquid cheese from Franche-Comte in the east, is taking over fitness social media, thanks to its 16g of prot per 100g (as the French muscle bros and girls say), low fat content and bargain price. Its secret ingredient is a skimmed milk product, metton, traditionally a byproduct of butter-making repurposed by thrifty peasants to avoid waste."

"In April, the social media personality Johan Papz said that discovering cancoillotte was the best day of my life, flamboyantly flinging the pale ooze over a plate of potatoes like a moister Salt Bae, then flashing the abs its impressive macronutrients allowed him to cultivate. Another cancoillotte-fluencer has made 178 TikToks on the topic and travelled more than 300 miles on a pilgrimage to Franche-Comte."

"Julie Morin, the president of the association for the promotion of cancoillotte, called online enthusiasm for the product incredible, while the supermarket Carrefour told Liberation sales of the garlic variety (of course) rose 16% last month. But watching endless social media videos of people in Gymshark vests and crop tops manipulating cancoillotte has left me feeling queasy."

"For a start, I'm a cheese-hater and its eerie texture creeps me out: it's like a whey-based slime; fondue's sinister skinny cousin; a low-fat lactose ectoplasm. But I also feel vaguely culturally betrayed: aren't French people supposed to care about taste above macros and lean muscle mass?"

Cancoillotte is a liquid cheese from Franche-Comté that is gaining popularity on fitness social media. It contains about 16g of protein per 100g, has low fat, and is priced as a bargain. The cheese is made using metton, a skimmed milk product traditionally treated as a byproduct of butter-making and repurposed to avoid waste. Online creators promote it by pouring it over potatoes and using it in fitness-focused routines. Sales have increased, including a reported rise in garlic cancoillotte at Carrefour. Some viewers react with discomfort due to its texture and the emphasis on macros over taste.

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