What's in a name? Some years back, the dairy industry did a
lot of lobbying in Brussels. Dairy names like milk, cheese and
butter are protected designations. Milk may only be called milk if
it is obtained from the udders of an animal: hence cows' milk,
goats' milk and camels' milk. But what impact does this
have on soya milk? Or tofu milk? Error! These can't be called
'milk' because they come from plant-based soya or tofu.
With not an udder in sight.
TofuTown.com Duitsland took its case all the way to the European
Court of Justice in their attempt to be allowed to use 'tofu
milk' for its product. And failed. The Court actually had no
alternative; the statutory definition is cut and dried, and
'tofu milk' just doesn't fit into it. Even disclaimers
('not real milk') fail to help. The Dairy Products
Regulation admittedly allows a few historical exceptions, such as
peanut butter (with no butter in it) and cocoa milk (the sap of the
coconut, so not real milk). But these
