Hard cheese ruling for Parmesan's imitators

The Parmesan war ended in victory for aficionados of the hard salty cheese yesterday when the European court of justice ruled that other grated cheeses sold in European supermarkets can no longer be passed off as the real thing.

In a final judgment, it said that only Parmesan made according to the traditional recipe, matured for two years and without additives, can be labelled as genuine parmigiano reggiano .

The guild of Parmesan makers in Parma have been locked in a legal battle with an exporter for the past three years, since the Italian police, acting on its complaint, raided a warehouse where "Parmesan" produced by a company called Nuovo Castelli was stored.

It turned out to be a blended mixture of dried pasteurised cheeses of different origins, but was sold as genuine Parmesan in the UK and France, although not in Italy, where the law is stricter.

The guild took criminal proceedings against the company for misleading customers and bringing Parmesan's reputation into disrepute.

The court said it agreed with the guild and set an important precedent that will allow other prestige food producers to see off cheap imitations.

"For reasons of consumer protection and fair competition 'imitation' Parmesan manufactured in Italy is not eligible for protection," the court said.

The Italian agriculture minister, Gianni Alemannom, said: "This is an important decision that will help protect the consumer and typical national products."

The European commission is setting up a global registry of protected products with geographic connections.