Rome Miffed As Fake Italian 'Food Products' Notch 120-B Euro Sales Annually

The global turnover of bogus 'Italian' food products has climbed to 120 billion euros per year, according to the Coldiretti farmers group, which is steaming over what it calls international piracy, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Photo Insert: Cheeses, particularly Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, are among the most cloned.

"Due to the continued rise of Italian sounding brands, over two-thirds of 'Italian' food products in the world are now fake," it stated, adding that the impact of the Ukraine war on global trade has aggravated the situation.

Cheeses, particularly Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, are among the most cloned. Other top fraudulent brands include Parma and San Daniele ham, as well as Bologna mortadella, according to Coldiretti.

Wealthier countries, such as the United States, where the business is worth 40 billion euros, are more likely to have phony Italian-sounding products.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the AGM of food federation Federalimentare in a video link with the Cibus exposition last August that Italy would push up its fight against Italian-sounding food fakes.

Last year's government plan for special marketing of Italian products "envisages action to defend brands and quality and origin certifications, and to fight Italian sounding products" such as Parmesan, he said.

Despite efforts to prohibit inferior clones, imitation of Italy's premium food goods is on the rise, according to the Foreign Trade Institute (ICE). Italian-sounding products currently generate $6 billion in sales, whereas actual Italian products generate only approximately $2 billion.

According to ICE, 97 percent of Italian pasta sauces and 76 percent of canned tomatoes on the North American market are fake.

The United States presently produces 1.7 million tons of fake cheese, including 1.3 million tons of bogus mozzarella, 120 million tons of bogus provolone, 111,000 tons of bogus ricotta, and 60,000 tons of bogus parmesan.

Gorgonzola is known as Cambozola in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, where it is popular with foodies. He said that the Italian foreign ministry was involved in "an intense action of combating the counterfeiting of Italian goods on a global scale."

In 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Germany violated European Union (EU) laws by letting the name Parmesan to be used for a German cheese that copied Italy's famous Parmigiano Reggiano, which has Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status in the EU.

Several years ago, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium won a significant legal success when it was able to prevent an American cheesemaker from using the Parmigiano tag on its grated cheese. It was the fourth time in ten years that a company in the United States has been ordered to remove the label from its product.

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