According to the Southeast European Times, “The advocate general of the European Court of Justice announced Tuesday (10 May) that in his opinion the name of feta cheese is a typical Greek name and deserves legal protection.” Germany and Denmark had been using “feta” to describe their own version of pasteurized goat’s milk cheese but Greece was demanding exclusive use.The EU Observer takes up the story:
The difference between the various types of feta cheese — claimed as an original product by Athens – is in its way of production.
While the Greeks make feta from unpasteurised sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep’s milk with goat’s milk, and then curdled with rennet, the Danes and Germans make it from pasteurised cow’s milk.
Copenhagen and Berlin have been trying to overturn the European commission’s 1996 decision to give the Greek cheese the same protection as Italian parma ham.
However, on Tuesday (10 May) the advocate general to the European Court of Justice, Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, advised that feta was not a generic name and should be seen as a traditional name, based on a product of which quality derives from the geographical surroundings where it is made, reports the Guardian.
Therefore, its traditional name should be preserved across the EU member states.
While the Greeks make feta from unpasteurised sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep’s milk with goat’s milk, and then curdled with rennet, the Danes and Germans make it from pasteurised cow’s milk.
Copenhagen and Berlin have been trying to overturn the European commission’s 1996 decision to give the Greek cheese the same protection as Italian parma ham.
However, on Tuesday (10 May) the advocate general to the European Court of Justice, Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, advised that feta was not a generic name and should be seen as a traditional name, based on a product of which quality derives from the geographical surroundings where it is made, reports the Guardian.
Therefore, its traditional name should be preserved across the EU member states.
