The Greeks, if they so desire, can still make Yorkshire pudding, but a European court ruled today that feta cheese can only now be made in Greece.

The decision by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ended a legal battle waged by major Danish and German producers of the ewes milk cheese. But it also dealt a blow to a specialist cheesemaker in North Yorkshire that has been selling its own "Yorkshire Feta" since 1987.

"We fully expected it, but it’s still very disappointing," said Judy Bell, who runs Shepherd's Purse Cheeses near Thirsk. "It's a ludicrous decision. There's no such place as feta."

In 2002 the Commission gave Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status to feta cheese made to certain specifications in certain parts of Greece, much as it protects such delicacies as Parma ham, Shetland lamb or Whitstable oysters.

But Germany and Denmark challenged the decision because of their significant domestic production of the cheese and argued that the word feta should be deemed a generic term available to all cheese-makers producing the salty white cheese in the correct manner.

The judges decreed today that feta is too closely associated with its acknowledged Greek roots for the name to be divorced from its geographical background.

They said the name feta meets EU requirements to be a "designation of origin" because it describes a cheese originating from a substantial part of Greece.

The cheese’s characteristics are derived from its geographical environment, and its production, processing and preparation are typical of a defined geographical area, the court ruled. Therefore it was a traditional name worthy of protection under EU rules.

Mrs Bell, whose company produces about a tonne of the cheese a week in the peak summer season as well as a range of more traditional blue cheeses, said: "We have never tried to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes - it is very clear from the label that it’s Yorkshire feta."

Feta has been made in Greece for some 6,000 years and similar cheeses can be found across the Balkans. The word feta is of Italian origin, meaning "fresh slice", and was introduced into Greece under Venetian influence, gaining currency in the 19th century.

Cuirrently, Greek cheesemakers produce some 115,000 tonnes of feta a year, mostly for domestic consumption. Denmark, the second-largest producer, makes 30,000 tonnes, some of which is exported to Greece.

Mrs Bell said that she thought the judgment was largely political, an attempt to keep Greece happy as one of the poorer European Community members. But she thinks that the decision may backfire.

She added: "My question is, 'How will Greece cope with the production of feta to meet the public demand throughout the community?' Because they can't, there's no way that they can... unless they import it and rebrand it as feta."

The European Commission welcomed the court ruling and said it would set an important precedent for the EU’s system of protecting the names of regional food products.

But Hans Bender, director of the Danish Dairy Board’s office in Brussels, criticised the ruling. "This ruling goes against all law ... It is scandalous,", Mr Bender said, although he said that Danish producers had cut back their feta production in recent years so that the ruling would not be as big a problem as it would have been a few years ago.

Mrs Bell said that her company had been given a derogation by the European Commission allowing it to continue selling "Yorkshire Feta" until 2007 since it has been producing it for so long. But the inevitable rebranding would cost tens of thousands of pounds and make it much harder to attract new customers.

Edward McMillan-Scott, a Conservative MEP from North Yorkshire who has led a campaign against Greek efforts to claim exclusive rights over the feta name, claimed today the decision would confuse shoppers. "It’s going to confuse shoppers and cause no end of hassle for producers, who will be forced to dream up new ways of telling people what sort of cheese they’re buying," he said.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating