The invention relates to a smoke-permeable, moisture-resistant, tubular, biaxially oriented, preferably also heat set food casing containing a mixture of at least one aliphatic (co)polyamide and at least one water-soluble synthetic polymer, and having a water vapor transmission rate of between 40 and 200 g/m2·d. The water-soluble polymer is preferably a polyvinyl alcohol. Optionally, the mixture also contains additives which influence the optics, haptics, moisture storage capacity and peeling behavior. The casing is preferably tubular and seamless and is produced by extrusion of a corresponding thermoplastic mixture. The inventive casing is preferably used as an artifical sausage casing, especially for smokeable scalded-emulsion sausages.