Geographical indications, “Food Fraud” and the Fight Against “Italian sounding” Products

Food producers and consumers are confronted with ever-growing choices and increasing competition within the EU and around the world. This has already led to various cases of food fraud and a call for political and legal action. Food fraud can be defined as ‘‘the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, labelling, product information, or false or misleading statements made about a food product’’. Meanwhile, the issue of “food fraud”, by means of employing names, symbols and images of third countries and thereby inducing a false impression on the consumer, appears to have been neglected despite its increasing economic impact. While the EU recently approved two new Geographical Indications (hereinafter, GIs) from third countries, the issue of the protection of Italian products against “rip–off Italian products” with Italian sounding names has taken centre–stage again.