Greece claims feta as part of its cultural heritage because it has been making the cheese from sheep’s and goat’s milk for 6,000 years. Judges at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said on Thursday: “By failing to stop the use of the name feta for cheese intended for export to third countries, Denmark has failed to fulfill its obligations under its legislation EU. “ The European Commission – backed by Cyprus – sued Denmark in 2019 for failing to prevent local companies from producing and exporting white cheese labeled as feta outside the EU, in breach of rules limiting that term to cheese from Greece. Denmark had argued that the export ban could be considered a barrier to trade. The commission launched infringement proceedings against Denmark over the matter in January 2018, but said the country had not addressed the issues raised. Feta has been designated a traditional Greek product by the EU executive since 2002, giving it legal protection in the 27-nation bloc. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The CJEU approved the label in 2005. Its attorney general at the time, Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, advised that feta was not a generic name and should be considered a traditional name worthy of protection in all EU member states. He said the quality of feta comes from the geographical environment where it is prepared, with its color, texture, taste and composition depending on the natural environment, culture and traditional production methods. The issue is more than national pride for Greece, which produces around 120,000 tons of feta per year. It has long proclaimed that to deserve the exclusive designation the cheese must be made domestically from unpasteurized sheep’s milk or from a mixture of sheep’s milk and goat’s milk and then curdled with rennet. The Danes, who make their cheese from pasteurized cow’s milk, have been marketing their ‘feta’ since 1963. Reuters contributed to this report
