Europe Wants to Ban American Cheeses from Using Non-American Names Like Parmesan and Feta

During recent trade talks, the European Union stated that they wanted to place a ban on using European names like parmesan, feta and Gruyère when manufactured by American companies. The reasoning being that the US equivalent could be damaging to sales and name recognition of the European cheeses.

Arguing that the American cheeses are only a pale comparison to their European counterparts, the EU believes that the original names should only belong to the countries they’re connected to. Example: Parmesan from Parma, Italy. Canada also went through a similar embargo with European cheeses, only being able to market Canadian-made feta as “feta-like” or “feta-style.”

The problem is this will definitely affect US manufacturers who are bound to lose big bucks in name changes and confused customers. Because of this concern, a bipartisan group of 55 senators wrote to US Trade Representatives asking them not to agree to the EU’s proposals.

While nothing formal has been written out, this ban could also extend to other European-based products manufactured in the US.

Actually, Kraft “Pasta Crack” could probably do well.

H/T NY Daily News