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Thursday 21 April 2016 1:21 pm

Everybody panic: Now David Cameron has warned that Brexit could harm our cheese, cider and sausage industries

By: Francesca Washtell

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Could this be the scariest Brexit prediction yet?

Leaving the EU might well cause a run on the pound, or make house prices to come crashing down, but until now we hadn't given a second thought to how it would affect our cheese.

David Cameron has made arguably one of his most convincing points yet. Writing in local paper the Gloucester Citizen, he warned that many of the UK's best-loved food and drink products, including cheese, cider and sausages, could be under threat from Brexit. 

"If we leave the EU and our farmers have to operate under World Trade Organisation rules, things would be very different," he warned. "They could be faced with annual tariffs of up to 40 per cent and huge additional costs – for example, £240m for beef and £90m for lamb.

Read more: The nation's favourite cheese: Brits are obsessed with cheddar

"Protected status enjoyed across Europe by our unique products, such as Gloucestershire cider, Single Gloucester cheese and traditionally-farmed Gloucester old spot pork, will be lost," Cameron said. 

Protected status granted by the EU means that only products made in a specific geographic area can carry the name associated with them.

Brexit could, therefore, threaten products such as Scotch whisky, which at present can only be applied to whisky that has been made in Scotland. 

Cameron has also chosen his audience strategically as Gloucestershire, we should all remember, is the home of the UK's largest cheese "rolling and wake event". 

So forget the economy, our political place in Europe and the wider world, and, as Cameron has instructed us all – think of the cheese. 

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