French baguettes are ‘the envy of the world’ and should be Unesco-listed cultural treasures says President Macron

  • A campaign to add the french bread to the unesco list has been started by bakers
  • President Emmanuel Macron has supported the application to protect the bread
  • Unesco's list protects national cultural treasures from globalisation 

The French baguette, which is 'the envy of the whole world' should be listed as an UNESCO cultural treasure, says President Emmanuel Macron.

Bakers in the country were inspired by the sucess of Italy's Naples pizza being added to the list of Unesco's cultural treasures.

The President has come out in support of the campaign to have the 'french stick' protected by the UN's cultural body.

The bakers behind the application have said it's not just the recipe, which consists of wheat flour, water, yeast and salt, that needs conserving but the name and shape too. 

President Emmanuel Macron (pictured) has backed the campaign to add french baguettes to the list of Unesco national cultural treasures

President Emmanuel Macron (pictured) has backed the campaign to add french baguettes to the list of Unesco national cultural treasures

President Macron told a french radio station that french baguettes were the 'envy of the world'

President Macron told a french radio station that french baguettes were the 'envy of the world'

President Macron told French radio that 'excellence and expertise must be preserved, and that is why it should be heritage-listed' after hosting a group of master bakers at the Elysée Palace in Paris. 

Concerns had previously been raised about mass-produced imitations of the national treasure.  

Dominique Anract, president of the National Condederation of French Patisseries and Bakeries, told food website Atabula: 'When I see the quality of bread in supermarkets, it is impossible not to get angry.

'The bread is frozen, some of it comes from Romania or who knows where, nothing is carried out in accordance of the rules of the art.' 

Although the traditional baguette has already been protected in France by law since 1993 by being on Unesco's list it will be protectected from globalisation.    

The President hosted a group of master bakers at the Elysée Palace in Paris (pictured) before making the announcement that he backed the application

The President hosted a group of master bakers at the Elysée Palace in Paris (pictured) before making the announcement that he backed the application

Unesco also have a list of protected locations known as World Heritage Sites but the cultural list featuring traditons, crafts, music, dance and food.

Already on the list are yoga, spanish flamenco and Tibetan Opera as well as Belgian beer culture.  

The Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluate nominations from around the world. 

France have already had some successful applications including Alecon lace-making to French-style equitation.

However the UK is one of few countries that has not signed up the system to protect it's heritage and has no entries on the list. 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.