Current Events > 'Gruyere' can be used to describe US cheeses, court rules

(+) Yeah! (+)

Decision means word cannot be restricted in US only for kind made originally in France or Switzerland

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/04/gruyere-describe-us-cheeses-court-rules

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.

This concerned cheese produced in Wisconsin or as far away as the Netherlands, Germany or Austria, they added.

The Interprofession du Gruyre, which represents milk producers, cheesemakers and refiners in the gruyere industry in Switzerland, and its counterpart in France, had asked to have the term recorded in the US registry of trademarks.

When the US Patent and Trademark Office refused to do this, the industry groups filed suit and lost in early 2022. Judges with the appeals court have upheld the lower court ruling.

The Swiss and French plaintiffs cannot overcome what the record makes clear: cheese consumers in the United States understand Gruyere to refer to a type of cheese, which renders the term generic, the court said.

US dairy groups welcomed the ruling while the Swiss and French cheese federations were disappointed, their lawyer said.

We think the actual situation in the US market is different than as stated by the court of appeals, and we will continue to pursue vigorously our efforts to protect the certification mark for the high-quality Gruyere PDO (protected designation of origin) product in the US, attorney Richard Lehv said.

Good. France can fuck off with their culture gate keeping horseshit.

Good. France can fuck off with their culture gate keeping horseshit.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you can't just make your own cheese you have to buy it from us"
lmao get fucked

In fairness, the US cant just make their own cheese because theyre shit at it.

Cope and seethe

The Swiss and French plaintiffs cannot overcome what the record makes clear: cheese consumers in the United States understand Gruyere to refer to a type of cheese, which renders the term generic, the court said.

Seems like a pretty reasonable decision based on this honestly

is there any point in being a stickler about using a specific name in a very specific circumstance when 99.9% of the public will just use it wrong anyway without having any idea there is a problem at all?

Doesn't matter, using it if not made in France or Switzerland is false advertising and these clown courts don't get to say otherwise.

Doesn't matter, using it if not made in France or Switzerland is false advertising and these clown courts don't get to say otherwise.

This like how people would universally use "XEROX"?

It's not false advertising if it fits the FDA definition of gruyere

It's false advertising period. FDA can fuck off if they think otherwise

It's false advertising because foreign governments say they're the only ones allowed to make specific types of food? lmao, fuck that nonsense.

"You're not allowed to call it a hamburger unless it was grilled on American soil, you have to call it a ground beef patty sandwich treat."

In fairness, the US cant just make their own cheese because theyre shit at it.

It's false advertising because foreign governments say they're the only ones allowed to make specific types of food? lmao, fuck that nonsense.

"You're not allowed to call it a hamburger unless it was grilled on American soil, you have to call it a ground beef patty sandwich treat."

I thought this was about cheeses that aren't Gruyere being called that, but it's apparently about making that literal cheese in the wrong country and calling it Gruyere?

I thought this was about cheeses that aren't Gruyere being called that, but it's apparently about making that literal cheese in the wrong country and calling it Gruyere? Can they not make Swiss cheese in Wisconsin either?

Cry more, facts are facts.

Cope and seethe

In fairness, the US cant just make their own cheese because theyre shit at it.

Except the best cheeses originate from the US

Literally who the fuck uses "Gruyere" as a generic term

Good. France can fuck off with their culture gate keeping horseshit.

Euros get really mad over anyone else using their precious words for their local varieties of various types of food and drink.

How dare you sir, kerfluxiplop beer can only be brewed in the ancient kerfluxipop abbey from locally spurced grains fertilized by dung from our region's specialty short-haired shaggy cows.

You say that as if its a bad thing.

Nothing is stopping Americans from making their own cheese (apart from their own ineptitude) but being able to identify foods more specifically is a good thing.

Kind of, yeah. Americans don't know how to actually call things the thing that they are, they just call it by the biggest name brand that they know of.