Cheese-sounding, Italian sounding and illicit evocation of a historic PDO. It couldn’t be worse for the British vegan food manufacturer, which under the brand ‘
I am Nut ok
‘ has ventured to sell a‘ParmeSans grated Italian style‘.
ParmeSans was apprehended in flagrante delicto by the Parmigiano Reggiano DOP Consortium, which right in London at the World Cheese Awards usually racks up awards for the real and best raw milk cheeses. But vegan imitations of Parmesan and other cheeses continue to thrive in the UK and are also emerging in Italy.
Vegan imitations
The names of vegan products often evoke those of the animal foods they aspire to imitate from time to time, at least in appearance and sometimes (more improbably) in flavor. Without in any way detracting from the free choices to produce plant-based or lab-derived foods, such as the
lab-meat
, however, it is incumbent to present products with a food name consistent with the rules. In all cases a descriptive name, since there is a lack of applicable legal or customary names. (1)
Meat sounding is extraordinarily widespread, pending the announced reform of the EU Common Market Organization (CMO) regulation that should reserve the use of the relevant names exclusively for meat preparations and products. Following the example of Mexico, where a reform in that direction is underway.
Fish sound ing andegg sounding are more marginal phenomena, which have not yet reached the spread necessary to wake up the idle control authorities in EU member states. Which will still be entitled to sanction violation of applicable European regulations. Since egg names such as honey, fish products and dairy products are already reserved in special EU legislation for those products only. With no room for imitations, which must be designated by descriptive names and not evocative of the original goods.
Cheese sound ing and milk sounding
Cheese sounding-that is, the use of the proper names of milk and dairy products on products of different origins-was the subject of a recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice. Which, on 14.6.17, affirmed the strict ban on referring to ‘milk’ and ‘cheese’ on products that do not contain them. (2)
Milk sounding is also to be understood as manifestly prohibited, for the reasons cited by the ECJ(European Court of Justice). The Institute for Advertising Self-Discipline (IAP) has responded to a complaint from us about an even more sensitive case of milk sounding, the reference to ‘milk’ in Galatine candies made instead with milk powder. (3)
The ParmeSans case
ParmeSans
is a chopped ‘vegan’ mixture (cashews, yeast, garlic, ‘Himalayan salt’ and ‘truffle oil’), presented with a play on words that combines the evocation of Parmesan with the word ‘sans‘ (‘without’, in French). And the subtitle‘grated Italian-style,’ which would put even the good soul of Totò to shame.
The brazenness is all in all typical of a country where the
wine-kits
have made their fortunes conjuring up Barolo in powders to add to water. But in those cases like this one, murky imagination imbued with cunning breaks the most basic rules.
The evocation of the name parmesan-which is in addition to cheese sounding-was the subject of a special ruling by the EU Court of Justice. The latter denied the generic nature of the term, cunningly theorized by the Germans, affirming the exclusive right to use it by companies that are members of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Consortium. (4)
Vegan Parmesan, what other cases?
The triple fake ParmeSans-fake cheese, fake Parmesan, fake Italian-was promptly intercepted by the Parmigiano Reggiano Protection Consortium, which intimated and obtained its immediate withdrawal from the market. Good work, indispensable even in a country like England where almost 7 thousand tons of authentic Parmesan are exported every year.
However, the responsibility of the distributor falters, in this as in other cases of British supermarkets selling vegan Parmesan. (5) Therefore, official public controls also falter, and it is to the authorities that petitions must be made for the protection of infringed rights with respect to the numerous infractions before anyone’s eyes. With or without Brexit.
Even in Italy, radars must be kept on. Just last week – in Bologna, at the Marca fair – we saw with our own eyes Vegeatal‘s vegan products, literally presented as ‘vegetable alternative to Parmigiano‘ (‘Grattaveg’), ‘vegetable alternative tomozzarella‘ (‘Mozzaveg’), ‘vegetable alternative to stracchino‘ (‘Straccoveg’).
‘Are you all right? An understatement’ (6)
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) For more on the food name in reg. EU 1169/11, see https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/archivio-notizie/domande-e-risposte/denominazione-dell-alimento_1
(2) See also the previous article https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/archivio-notizie/cheese-sounding-la-corte-di-giustizia-ue-conferma-il-divieto
(3) Instead, the Antitrust Authority, probably oblivious to IAP’s wise decision, gave the green light to Galatine and other milk sounding cases reported by GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). Sic! https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/milk-sounding-via-libera-dall-antitrust
(4) ECJ, Case C-132/05, Commission of the European Communities v. Federal Republic of Germany, judgment 26.2.08, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:62005CJ0132&from=EN
(5) See for example the vegan Parmesan branded Good Carma Food launched by retailer Morrison’s in July 2018, the Your Heart Vegan Parmesan Shread by Harris Teeter. And what others?
(6) Quote C.C.C.P. – Faithful to the Line.
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
