'Feta' row cheese gets new name

Judy Bell has now re-named her cheese Fine Fettle Yorkshire

A North Yorkshire food producer is changing the name of a popular cheese after a battle with the European Union.

Judy Bell, who runs Shepherds Purse Cheeses near Thirsk, was caught up in a five-year tussle over the feta name of a cheese she produces.

EU judges upheld a ruling in 2005 that feta had "Protected Designation of Origin" status meaning only Greek cheesemakers could use the name.

Now the Mrs Bell's cheese is to be called "Fine fettle Yorkshire".

Food labelling

Mrs Bell had wanted to continue calling her product Yorkshire feta.

But the European judges ruled that only cheese made in certain areas of Greece should be allowed to use the name "feta".

The case had been brought by Denmark and Germany, seeking to challenge European Commission rules designed to protect certain place names used on food labelling.

In 2002 the Commission gave Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status to feta cheese made to certain specifications in certain parts of Greece.

The court battle over feta hinged on whether the term was so familiar it should be deemed a generic name available to all cheese producers making feta-style cheese, or whether it needed tougher legal protection to discourage imitators.

The Germans and Danes went to court because of their significant domestic production of "feta" cheese, which they wanted to preserve.

We have never tried to pull the wool over anyone's eyes - it is very clear from the label that it's Yorkshire feta Cheesemaker Judy Bell

Under the same PDO heading, the commission also protected Parma ham, French Champagne, and, in Britain, at least 25 products, including Shetland lamb, Whitstable oysters and Newcastle brown ale.

But Yorkshire pudding is deemed to be a generic term and does not have to be made in Yorkshire to qualify to use the name.

The judges decreed that "feta" is too closely associated with its acknowledged Greek roots for the name to be divorced from its geographical background.

When the feta battle reached court in 2005, Ms Bell, founder of Shepherd's Purse, warned that a final ruling in Greece's favour would hit her firm hard, as it would cost a huge amount to rebrand its feta output.

She said at the time: "We have never tried to pull the wool over anyone's eyes - it is very clear from the label that it's Yorkshire feta."