EU says only greeks can make feta

[anil]

The Europeans have decided that feta cheese is uniquely greek, and  hence only Greece has the right  to produce it. Other countries will be given five years to stop ..... - reports NYT

[stefanyb]

Isn't that ridiculous?  French feta is my favorite kind.  What will they call it now, French brined sheeps milk curds?

[Sandra Levine]

You beat me to it, Stefany.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Anil - Do you mean that the word feta will be exclusively used by Greeks? You can't mean that only Greeks can make the type of cheese one would identify as feta do you? ASnd where is the link to the article?

[Beachfan]

Now I want be eating anything from Bulgaria.

[Steve Plotnicki]

As I suspected, here is the link to th EU

Feta ruling

This isn't any different than the type of protection the French have for Champagne, or the Spanish have for Serrano Ham. Sparkling wine from elsewhere in Europe is called by a different name, like Cava or Proseco. And though you can make the kind of ham they call Serrano Ham anywhere, it has to come from a certain region in Spain. Just like Prosciutto can only come from Italy. I wonder if the labeling edict holds is enforcable in the U.S. (any lawyers out there?) or can the Bulgarians call their cheese feta here? Or can American stores still advertise it as Bulgarian feta even though the Greeks have exclusivity on the trade name?

[anil]

What's in a name    So what if France goes after wine makers who claim  to make champagne outside of France eh ?  

[Steve Plotnicki]

Anil - You know it's one of France's great embarrasments that they lost the court battle which tried to stop Gallo from calling their best selling wine "Hearty Burgundy." I can't remember the details of why they lost, but it pains them to this day.

[Jason Perlow]

Bulgaria is part of the EU? I wasnt aware of that.

Cant they just call it something other than "Feta"

EDIT: OK, I read the ruling. So they have to call it something else, big deal. Like Shepherd's Goats Milk Cheese.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Jason - Well if you go into a market in NYC and ask for feta, you could get it from almost any country. Some markets desiginate origin, but many don't. Some carry multiple fetas and label tham all. This has to be a big hit for the cheesemakers from countries other than Greece who make the same type of cheese. It's like winning the trademark to anything where your version has control of the generic name. Could you imagine if Idaho potatoes got exclusive use of the word potato? It isn't unusual given how they allow people to label cheeses in the rest of the EU. Camembert can only be made in France. The Belgian version is called something else, though I forget the name.

[Jinmyo]

So "pheta". Big deal.

I'm still buying French pheta.

edit:

Thanks for the link to the article, Steve.

[anil]

Bulgaria is part of the EU? I wasnt aware of that.

Are they ? I did not think so - But then I've been known to be wrong   I was under the impression that Bulgaria along with other Commicon or Warsaw-Pack countries are candidates for inclusion along with Cyprus,Turkey, and Malta.

[stefanyb]

So "pheta". Big deal.

I'm still buying French pheta.

Jinny,

Bad feta could be Feh-ta.

[Adam_Balic]

As I suspected, here is the link to th EU

Feta ruling

This isn't any different than the type of protection the French have for Champagne, or the Spanish have for Serrano Ham. Sparkling wine from elsewhere in Europe is called by a different name, like Cava or Proseco. And though you can make the kind of ham they call Serrano Ham anywhere, it has to come from a certain region in Spain. Just like Prosciutto can only come from Italy. I wonder if the labeling edict holds is enforcable in the U.S. (any lawyers out there?) or can the Bulgarians call their cheese feta here? Or can American stores still advertise it as Bulgarian feta even though the Greeks have exclusivity on the trade name?

I don't agree Steve. The name "Feta", isn't Greek in origin and neither is the cheese specific to Greece, which is way different to somebody calling a soft red wine "Burgundy".

[Steve Plotnicki]

Adam - Well without knowing the derivation of the word "feta," it's common usage is associated with Greek cheese making. At least in the U.S. Other than educated food consumers, I would think that of people who have heard of feta cheese, if asked, a significant majority of people would say that feta is a Greek cheese. For the purposes of trademark laws, and how trade names are assigned, this is the important distinction since trademark law is based in common law, or in common usage. I am sure if there is an attorney who can give more specific details who is lurking around they will jump in here. Burgundy, is either pinot noir or chardonnay, by law. And they grow pinot noir and chardonnay everywhere in the world. But you can't call your wine Burgundy. That is something that was commonly held by consumers as being distinct. And it's on that basis that they have a protected trade name. So whether Greek feta is distinct as a matter of process, and regardless of the derivation of the word, it's distinct in the minds of consumers and that's why they recieved trade name protection.

[Adam_Balic]

Oh, I see it's a "biggest buck" issue. Reversal of the Basmati/Texmati case. Nice

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar98/basmati.html

[Steve Plotnicki]

Adam - Unfortunately everything is the biggest buck theory. Personally, I side with the Greeks on this one. They did the heavy lifting in promoting feta to the rest of the world. But for the same reasons basmati should be exclusive to Indian grown rice. Look at Gruyere and Comte. The name Gruyere is so much more valuable.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Adam - Just to be fair in my statement about the biggest buck theory, consumer confusion is really at the heart of the issue. It's just that it gets extrapolated into biggest bucks. If consumers in the U.K. expect their feta cheese to come from Greece, they don't want them fooled by ending up with cheese from Bulgaria.

[John Whiting]

Steve has this one exactly right in every detail. If labels are to mean anything at all, international trades description laws must operate that protect long-established artisanal makers of food as well as wine.

Edit: Of course a lot of the manufacturers are big factories, so strike the word "artisanal", although they get protected as well and arguably need the protection even more.

[Adam_Balic]

Steve, point well taken and I agree with you, it was just in this particular case I thought it was a bit unfair on the other countries that had just a strong cultural/historical claim to the product as Greece.

I tend to be fussy about such products and so check out where they come from (especially important in the UK), but I guess that isn't the issue is it?

I always try to buy Comte, rather the Gruyere though!

[Steve Plotnicki]

Adam - As a matter of fairness, and in my opinion quite an important issue of globalization, is our willingness to give protection to those who bring products to the marketplace in a way that benefits consumers. A country like Greece needs every little bit of help it can to be part of the wordlwide economy. Just like it is important for India to be the exclusive producer of Basmati rice. It gives them a foothold in global markets. How else do they properly integrate into the global economy if they can't get this type of protection?

[Adam_Balic]

I don't know Steve, such issues are beyond me! But, on this topic, for whatever reason Greece is being favoured over Bulgaria (as an example), so how are they to integrate into the Global economy?

[Wilfrid]

Unfortunately, the Brits seem to have let the term "cheddar" escape and frolic around the globe and settle on any kind of semi-hard cow's milk cheese, disgusting or not.  But I am in agreement with m'learned colleagues here on the merit of protecting such names.

[John Whiting]

Cheddar is a particularly unfortunate case, inasmuch as real farmhouse cheddar -- Mull or Montgomery or a cheddar type such as Linconshire Poacher -- is one of the world's great cheeses, with an infinite variety of flavors and textures. I once complained to a French friend that good rindy cantal was hard to get in Britain and he replied, "You don't need cantal -- you have cheddar!"

[Adam_Balic]

Unfortunately, the Brits seem to have let the term "cheddar" escape and frolic around the globe and settle on any kind of semi-hard cow's milk cheese, disgusting or not.  But I am in agreement with m'learned colleagues here on the merit of protecting such names.

Oh, I completely agree on protection, I'm just unsure that Greece deserves the protection in this particular case.