Food law is fascinating. You can probably find other examples, from the serious to the silly. Austria has retained the right to label certain foods with its own dialect words, which means sometimes our ingredients lists have three different terms for the same thing (standard German plus Swiss German too (such as Obers/Sahne/Rahm). Cheese must get pretty tricky though, especially with France next door! That was quite enlightening about the holes. Who'd have ever thought of the cause?
I remember when Austria voted to join the EU (had an office in Vienna back in the early 90s) and there was this great advertising campaign with pictures of food, “Topfen bleibt Topfen” or “Paradeiser bleibt Paradeiser.” (It worked!)
I think the Swissiness on Austrian food labels is probably because of Liechtenstein and Voralberg.
In Switz itself, EVERYTHING has to be labeled in ‘German’, French, and Italian.
Food law is fascinating. You can probably find other examples, from the serious to the silly. Austria has retained the right to label certain foods with its own dialect words, which means sometimes our ingredients lists have three different terms for the same thing (standard German plus Swiss German too (such as Obers/Sahne/Rahm). Cheese must get pretty tricky though, especially with France next door! That was quite enlightening about the holes. Who'd have ever thought of the cause?
I remember when Austria voted to join the EU (had an office in Vienna back in the early 90s) and there was this great advertising campaign with pictures of food, “Topfen bleibt Topfen” or “Paradeiser bleibt Paradeiser.” (It worked!)
I think the Swissiness on Austrian food labels is probably because of Liechtenstein and Voralberg.
In Switz itself, EVERYTHING has to be labeled in ‘German’, French, and Italian.
Fascinating, both with regard to the cheese-making and the interests of the governing authorities !
Thanks, John. We have no shortage of cultural rabbit holes here!