On the Official Gazette of Chile recently appeared some registration applications – made by the U.S. Consortium of Common Food Names (CCFN) – for some products falsely passed off as Italian. The three brands involved are Asiago (cheese), Bologna (mortadella), and Parmesan. This is a clear threat towards three typical Italian food products, which once again risk to be victims of the umpteenth case of Italian-sounding.
The alarm was launched by the Italian farmers association Coldiretti, which called it “yet another blow to Made in Italy productions, already besieged by counterfeits that cause a damage of over one hundred billion euros every year worldwide. This is a shameful request in light of the efforts undertaken by the European Union in the negotiations on the modernization of the EU-Chile Association Agreement currently underway.” Therefore, according to the Italian association, what is needed is “effective counteraction by the EU at the WTO (World Trade Organization), but also greater commitment in the European Union’s free trade negotiations to protect Italian F&B.”
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Chile has even introduced the so-called black stamp on the label. A symbol that effectively discourages the purchase of iconic Italian products such as Parmigiano Reggiano PDO, Gorgonzola PDO, ham, and dumplings. “Due to the Italian-sounding products – says Coldiretti – more than two out of threeMade in Italy food products in the world are actually fake, without any productive and occupational link with Italy. The emerging or richest countries – from China to Australia, from South America to the United States – are the ones where the highest number of counterfeits takes place. In the USA, 99% of Italian-style cheeses are fakes, despite the fact that the name explicitly refers to the most famous dairy specialties of the Belpaese: from Mozzarella to Ricotta, from Provolone to Asiago, from Pecorino Romano to Grana Padano, all the way to Gorgonzola” – Coldiretti says.