Cheese and Desist: The World of Cheese Forgery

From Grandma’s baked macaroni to the infinite possibilities of charcuterie, Midwesterners take cheese seriously. Many have a refrigerator drawer reserved exclusively for their favorites, but even the most seasoned curd nerds may be unaware of the fascinating world of cheese forgery—a fraud so pervasive, producers in the European Union are going to complex lengths to stave off dairy deplorables. 

You’re probably familiar with the most common form of cheese forgery: companies that cannot be bothered to pretend their product is authentic. Resealable bags of cornstarch-coated sadness come to mind. There may be homogenized branding attached, often with playful misspellings like cheez or parmezan. There are no illusions the product was developed from ancestral recipes or techniques handed down by someone’s loving nonna.

The second kind of cheese forgery concerns an organized criminal effort to deceive consumers through means like fake labeling, geographic indication (GI) infringement, or introducing inferior products into centuries-old cheesemaking processes.

While mozzarella remains America’s most popular cheese, the variety most targeted by fraud is parmesan—or Parmigiano Reggiano, as the real deal is known in the EU. Much like Champagne in France, parmesan can only be called Parmigiano Reggiano if it’s produced in one of five provinces in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy using three ingredients: raw cow milk, salt, and rennet.

The Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Consortium (PRC) estimates the fake parmesan market is responsible for a jaw-dropping $2 billion a year in losses. Formed in 1932, the consortium is the supervising authority that safeguards the protected designation of origin (PDO) and advocates for consumers who are being hoodwinked at the dairy case.

In 2022, the PRC intervened when Kraft Heinz attempted to register the trademark “Kraft parmesan cheese” in Ecuador. After three years in court and a favorable judicial opinion, PRC President Nicola Bertinelli said, “The international fight against the illegitimate use of the term ‘parmesan’ continues.”

Even YouTuber Gavin Webber received a cease and desist from the consortium in 2020 after posting a video showing his process for making Grana Padano-style cheese. The letter informed Webber his content violated the consortium’s trademark. Webber shared the cease and desist with his followers, concluding he may have cracked the Grana Padano code, “I think not only they’re trying to protect their brand, that’s perfectly okay, it’s the law, but I must have really nailed the Grana Padano recipe.” 

 Outside the court of law, measures are being taken in supply chains to combat rampant cheese forgery: DNA testing, rind analysis, and tests of fat/protein ratios for inferior ingredients.  Some producers are even embedding microchips in a cheese wheel’s casein label. Others are using blockchain or QR code tracking to guarantee authenticity on arrival. PRC spokesperson Alberto Pecorari told The Guardian, “We keep fighting with new methods. We won’t give up.” 

Not all fromagaphiles will be passionate about whether or not the buffalo mozzarella in their fridge was made from real buffalo milk, but anyone who has ever attempted to replicate a beloved Italian restaurant’s alfredo sauce recipe knows their stovetop copycat just isn’t the same. Don’t worry, chefs of the world: It’s not you. It’s the cheese.