MADISON (AP) — A cheese made in the United States has won the World Championship Cheese Contest for the first time since 1988.

The top prize was awarded in Madison on Wednesday to a smear-ripened hard cheese made in Monroe, Wisconsin, by Fitchburg-based Emmi Roth USA, which is a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Emmi Group.

The last cheese from the U.S. to win the competition was when Dale Olson of Burnett Dairy Cooperative in northwestern Wisconsin won for a string cheese.

The first runner-up in the biennial contest was a smear-ripened semi-soft cheese made by Johannes Schefer of Switzerland, while second runner-up was an aged Gouda from Friesland Campina Export in the Netherlands. A cheese from Switzerland had won four of the last five competitions.

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