Geographical origin trade mark and certification issues seem to be all the rage this week. With TOBLERONE packaging's forced move away from the Swiss Matterhorn, in contrast, US cheese manufacturers are highly relieved that 'Gruyere' can be used to describe US cheeses, and not just cheese of Swiss origin.
My colleague Kirsten has also commented on the Toblerone news here.
A US appeals court has ruled that the word “gruyere” is a common label for cheese and cannot be reserved just for the kind made originally in France or Switzerland. The US does not have the same strict rules as Europe on the designation of origin for foods, said judges in the Richmond, Virginia-based US court of appeals for the fourth circuit. The US Food and Drug Administration does set some standards for gruyere cheese, such as the existence in it of “small holes” or that such cheese is aged at least 90 days. But it does not establish criteria on geographic origin. “Cheese – regardless of its location of production – has been labelled and sold as gruyere in America for decades,” the court said.
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