Greek dairy authorities are having a hard time with a cheese called Yorkshire Fettle because they feel it sounds too much like “feta.”
Greek Association of Milk & Dairy Products (Sevgap) representatives charged Shepherds Purse of Thirsk of trying to break European regulations with the name of their sheep’s milk cheese.
The irate Greeks claimed that the 17th-century Northern slang term “fettle” sounded too much like “feta” and violated the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin policy, which continues to apply to UK products after Brexit.
The Sevgap group said that Fettle was misleading for customers who could assume it is feta, according to Shepherds Purse Chief Cheese Steward Caroline Bell.
However, we make it very clear in all communications that it is not manufactured in Greece but is proudly created in Yorkshire.
Having to alter the name once again has left us feeling quite unhappy and irritated.
Furthermore, the Greeks have reacted angrily before. Before the manufacturer changed the cheese’s name to Yorkshire Fettle in 2008 in response to a prior complaint, the product was known as Yorkshire Feta.
According to Ms. Bell, the business lacked the resources to fight the judgment. In honor of her mother Judy, who passed away earlier this year, it is now marketed under the name Mrs. Bell’s Salad Cheese.
The angry Greeks complained that ‘fettle’ – a Northern slang word dating from the 17th Century – sounded too like ‘feta’
Before a prior complaint caused the manufacturer to change the cheese’s name to Yorkshire Fettle in 2008, the product was known as Yorkshire Feta.
According to the Yorkshire Historical Dictionary, the word “fettle” first appears in print in a letter from Bolton Priory requesting that a visitor’s lodging be “fettled for him” in 1686.
It’s still used often, according to Yorkshire Dialect Society member Eric Scaife. You may hear your wife say she’s “fettlin’ up tea” to indicate that she’s starting a brew, or you might say you’re “in good fettle” to indicate that everything is going well.
It is absurd to think that the term has anything to do with feta.
Since the 17th century, feta, a crumbly, white cheese made from sheep’s milk, has been called that.
According to European regulations, feta cheese may only be branded as such if it is produced in Greece using sheep and goat milk obtained from domesticated animals.
The names of items registered under the program are legally guarded against abuse and imitation both within and outside of the EU.