There was a story about this last year, involving cheesemakers in Wisconsin, I think. Now apparently the EU is negotiating for origination mandates to be included in a new trade agreement with the U.S.
I think the author of the critique misses the point. Consumers mostly are concerned that when they shop for a particular brand or variety of food, they want to be certain that they received what they bargained for. I think you can get decent Gorgonzola from Wisconsin (although my Italian American friends vehemently disagree). And the EU’s hands aren’t clean, especially as regards extra virgin olive oil. EVOO from Italy can be a mixture of stuff from Greece, Spain and Italy. I love EVOO from Greece and Spain and can usually tell the difference in their distinct flavors. If my bottle of Greek oil has Spaniard or Italian product in it, I want to know that!
Apparently the practice is widespread. The problem is that some grated U.S. Parmesan producers used more wood (cellulose) than is the typical industry standard. Of course, I don’t want any WOOD in my cheese. I stopping buying the mass market grated stuff ages ago.
It wasn’t that they were selling a wood product as parmesan cheese, it was that a product labelled 100% parmesan cheese had cellulose in it (which is used, by the way, to keep the cheese from clumping). Even the 100% parmesan at Whole Foods sold under the “360” brand had some in it (like .8%). The worst was Target, whose “parmesan” cheese was found to contain no parmesan, it had a mix of cheddar cheese and some other things.
Part of this is protecting a “brand.” I realize that some of these products are not truly brands, but type. However, ff you are known for producing a particular product in your region, I can see the benefit of protecting the name. I shop for many products based upon where they were produced. I only buy Irish butter and British beef and chicken and Scottish salmon. I think they taste better than alternatives. I am very conscious of the origins of all my food. I try to buy as local as possible.
^^^ Another reason to require labeling, although like other posters on this thread, I buy parmesan in a chunk. I do, however, sometimes buy shredded “mexican” blend of cheeses for burritos/quesadillas, etc. I may have to rethink this.
Well, the additives have ti be listed on the label under current law. There is plenty of high quality cheese made in the US. I would never, ever, in a million years buy parmesean “cheese” in a shaker can, but I might buy high quality hunks of “parmesean”-style cheese made in, say, Sonoma County. I really don’t care if my parmesean is actually made in Parma, so long as it is real cheese.
But the taste of cheese, butter and other dairy is often dependent on the grasses that the cows or sheep ate. Sometimes there is even a difference depending on season - summer cheese v winter cheese. Real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese sometimes tells you whether it was from “mountain” cows or “valley” cows.
I only buy produce labeled with the country of origin. We are lucky to live in the garden state with some pretty amazing choices , but in the winter, we do obviously have to rely on other areas, even within our own country. There are some countries I won’t buy from. I can’t blame Europeans for wanting their food imports to be labeled. I learned some things about the differences of food processing that can make a difference in how a product will work. Why shouldn’t we have the ability to make clear decisions about our food choices ?
I don’t think the issue is whether you have to include the place of orgin on the label. That’s already required. I think the issue is whether Americans could sell something called “Burgundy” wine, or “Roquefort” or “Parmesean” cheese, EVEN IF it is clearly labeled as made in California or America. I could be wrong, though.
Did you know that your chicken can be raised and slaughtered here in the US but sent to China for processing and then back here to sell. They do not have to tell you this anymore.
It really bugs me when the package has “Made in the US!” prominently stated in a large font on the front while there a small print on the back adding “from XYZ grown in China.” Really?
"Did you know that your chicken can be raised and slaughtered here in the US but sent to China for processing and then back here to sell. They do not have to tell you this anymore.
Did you know that it is no longer required to tell you where your beef and pork come from?"
I wish I could perform that poorly with my job and still collect a nice paycheck and excellent benefits / pension package…actually no, I don’t …I take pride in my job and doing my best to do it right and make people happy, even when it’s 1.5 hours before quitting time
Wood fortified Parmesan is also known for benefits which aren’t monopolized by Pfizer.
Much cheaper and it’s probably the secret ingredient behind one frontrunner’s totally unexpected success on one side of the aisle and rhetorical references to the endowments of himself and his opponents in the most recent televised debate.
Totally get why origin labelling is important. I really hate buying stuff that I don’t know where it’s from and avoid to (you can also inject chemicals into fruit in China so that they look ‘fresh’ in our supermarkets for instance). I try to read product composition but let’s face it I don’t always have time to. Having the guarantee right there on the package is important.
The second issue is authenticity - products that “look like” the original aren’t the same. True for Parmesan, Bordeaux, Gorgonzola, champagne, Angus beef, Scottish salmon, parma or Bayonne or Speck ham, Charentes butter, specific mineral waters, etc. Those are expensive but passing something else off as the real stuff does customers a real diservice. Check the composition of your ham to see what I mean (for the record “real” ham is cured meat. If you see water or unknown compounds… It’s a ham-like product sold to unsuspecting customers. I once thought the ham instead bought tasted ‘pastic’ and ‘wet’, so I checked the composition… 30+% Eye unknown compounds. Ham is not supposed to taste like that, just like mc Donalds hamburger meat isn’t a taste reference to what steaks taste like. But they so distort our sense of taste and also make us consume stuff that’s not good for us.)
Third issue is brand. It’s registered as such in Europe and protected through AOP (which means inspection, standards, etc.) and , while I’m sure Nabisco would love to disregard it, disregarding the brand value of, say, ‘Cognac’, cultivated over 300 years, is akin to disregarding the brand value of Coca Cola or Oreo in the US. Expect Europeans to fight for proper labelling in the same way Coke would fight if someone said “we can make a brown carbonated sweet beverage too, and we’ll call it coke!”
