What's the Stink About?

First it was Feta, then it was Parmasian. Now the pliable, nutty-flavored cheese with the big wholes, so frequently associated with Alpine pastures, could be the next to lose its generic name.

Call it "Swiss cheese" as milk producers in North America do, and you're safe. Refer to it by its name of origin, Emmental, and you could be in for a new law case, if the Federal Agriculture Office (FAO) of Switzerland has its way.

With the backing of the Swiss dairy farmers, the FAO announced plans to give Emmental the "Protected Designation of Origin" label, the first step towards safeguarding the cheese from other would-be foreign copies.

It will protect the tradition and quality of the Emmental cheese," Jürg Jordi, spokesman for the office, told The Associated Press. "It will give Emmental producers a better position with both local and foreign consumers, providing greater assurance and transparency regarding the production method, quality and origin of the cheese."

The big cheese

Germany's diary industry, backed by Emmental producers in France, Denmark and Austria, challenged the Swiss ruling and asked the European Commission to intervene, claiming more of the cheese is actually produced outside Switzerland than inside.

"The milk association is calling urgently on the Commission to take up the question of Emmental," Germany's milk producer's association said earlier in the week. The non-Swiss producing cheese countries point out that the appellation is not protected under the international agreement of 1951 which gave all cheese producers the right to use the name, and therefore should not be the exclusive right of Switzerland.

"Also the Swiss claim of being the traditional home of Emmental doesn't count, given that Emmental has been produced in Germany since 1820," the German association said.

What's in a name?

The Oxford Concise English Dictionary gives a slightly more pro-Swiss definition of the "fromage" in question: "Emmental is a kind of hard Swiss cheese with holes named after a Swiss valley where it was first produced."

For the Swiss dairy producers, there's a little more to the name than just location. Under the Emmental appellation, cheese makers will be required to use fresh, unpasteurized milk less than 24 hours old, and the cheese will need to mature for a minimum of four months before it can be sold. The use of additives is prohibited, as is the use of genetically modified ingredients.

The milk must come from grazing cows, and not those raised on feed. The genuine article is also only produced in local creameries by specialists using traditional recipes.

Initially, the new labeling requirement, which is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 13, will only apply to Swiss producers. Outside Switzerland, producers may still call their cheese Emmental, until the EU agrees to recognize the Swiss designation.