Take Feta. Add Frites. Stir in European Food Rules. Fight.<br />During those talks, Paul D. Ryan, the Republican House speaker and a Wisconsinite, insisted<br />that producers in his state should be allowed to make feta and other cheeses “for generations to come.”<br />Manolis Kefalogiannis, a Greek lawmaker at the European Parliament, later said<br />that the United States stance created the “risk of mass imports of counterfeit feta into the E. U.”<br />Gus, the mascot for the annual British Asparagus Festival, paints his face green and wears a giant asparagus crown headdress.<br />Fights over culinary traditions are common in Europe, where countries are fiercely protective of their gastronomical heritage,<br />and the rule books are full of regional food and drink that are “protected.”<br />The European Union also has a role in deciding which products may use more generic names like milk and cream.<br />China agreed this month to respect rules protecting the names of 100 European Union foods and drinks, including feta cheese from Greece.<br />Now, some British producers are trying to preserve the boost that Europe’s protected food names system gives their business.<br />It sued TofuTown, a major German producer of dairy alternatives, for violating European rules by marketing “Soyatoo tofu butter” and “veggie cheese.”<br />This month, the European Court of Justice agreed with the German association.
