You can’t label it feta: Europe ignites food war with US, demanding that only cheeses produced in their origin region can use ‘historically trademarked’ names

The U.S. cheese industry in particular has chafed against the EU regulations, which protect almost 300 cheeses. To be called feta, the cheese must be made in Greece. Gorgonzola cheese has to be from Italy.

Along with increasing the number of protected products, the EU is looking to ease the application process for producers to add their foods to the list. U.S. food makers worry that this will rope in other products, including cured meats. They aren’t challenging the EU protections around “Prosciutto di Parma,” but they want to continue to use the words prosciutto, bologna and chorizo. 

“You cannot take something that has been in the public domain for decades—centuries in some cases—and all of a sudden, overnight, decide that name doesn’t belong to the public,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director of the Consortium for Common Food Names.

EU officials say their system doesn’t prevent U.S. producers from selling their wares abroad—it only limits how they can label certain items in the EU and other countries where these protections are part of trade agreements.

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U.S. producers said the EU’s labeling restrictions can dissuade them from exporting, or add expense if they choose to continue selling abroad with new packaging.

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