Which Country is Granted the Right to be Europe’s Sole Producer of Feta Cheese?

Guys and gals, we find ourselves re - uniting once more, this time to talk about the question of : “Which country is granted the right to be Europe’s sole producer of feta cheese?”. It has been debated in many cheese - lovers’ circles and even numerous online forums. Some of us love feta like no other passion, and I myself am certainly a cheese aficionado (though I’m not cheesy with my puns, at least, I have not been told so, heh heh). Anyways, to get to the real heart of the matter, European laws have stated that it is — get this — only the GREEK feta cheese has the right to officially be labeled and construed as feta. As such, that is why you see Greece being the top producer of so much frickin’ cheese ; it comes out like sand on a beach, and it’s everywhere in this lovely country!

Now, with that said, there are also a few further thoughts ; the first is that many people in Greece’s euro system of economy call this cheese the “gold white” or “white gold”, similarly. Greece easily pumps out over 100 K tons of this type of cheese in an annual period alone, and that is not even the best part — get this —- it’s a far higher count in total domestic product than goat milk and sheep combined. And that’s all in a single year! (So yes, cheese lovers, if you really want to call yourself a true cheese lover, then it would be a crime for you not to travel to Greece and live there. He heh).

Canada, on another note, has been given the green light by the European Union, as well, but not to the same extent that Greece has. For instance, “feta - style” cheese is the type that this country produces and is allowed to legally label its cheeses of a feta nature by, but not actually “feta cheese” as Greece is known for. Now, “feta style”, like us more picky - detailed people would agree, is not “feta”. There is a fine line of difference here.

These cheeses are not allowed to label themselves as Greek original or anything correlating with Greece. This simple permission to call them “feta style” came about in 2013. Furthermore, Hellenic cuisine, a culture and staple of all things truly Greek, would not be what it is without feta cheese. Greece is very proud of its culture and, as such, does not share its label and cheese history with just anyone. Denmark and Germany, on another note, have tried. They have, to this day, still failed to overrule this, despite their most desperate and seemingly persuasive attempts.

The EU’s Court of Justice is mainly to thank for this. It is, as many know, the highest governing court in all of Europe itself. They have, as such, denied these two other countries any exclusive rights to label their cheese as “feta”, regardless of how close such cheese might be to the original.