Alleen Griekse kaas mag de naam 'feta' dragen (en)

The legal advisor at the EU's top court has confirmed the exclusivity of Greek feta cheese, suggesting other countries, like Germany and Denmark, should call their versions of the cheese differently.

The difference between the various types of feta cheese - claimed as an original product by Athens - is in its way of production.

While the Greeks make feta from unpasteurised sheep's milk, or a mixture of sheep's milk with goat's milk, and then curdled with rennet, the Danes and Germans make it from pas-teurised cow's milk.

Copenhagen and Berlin have been trying to overturn the European commission's 1996 decision to give the Greek cheese the same protection as Italian parma ham.

However, on Tuesday (10 May) the advocate general to the European Court of Justice, Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, advised that feta was not a generic name and should be seen as a traditional name, based on a product of which quality derives from the geographical surroundings where it is made, reports the Guardian.

Therefore, its traditional name should be preserved across the EU member states.

The Court's final decision is expected later this year, but the issue could then come up again after the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Both countries also claim original ownership of feta cheese.