In the US, most feta is incredibly made with cow's milk. So no, the US doesn't have strong protection there.

Or to put it differently, The US cheese industry has strong protection from the EU cheese industry's naming rules.

For Feta:

> According to the relevant EU legislation, only those cheeses produced in a traditional way in particular areas of Greece (Peloponnese, Central Greece, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace, and the islands of Lesbos and Cephalonia), which are made from sheep's milk, or from a mixture of sheep's and up to 30% of goat's milk from the same area, can be called feta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feta

I would assume though that US or ZA feta is _never_ exported and sold anywhere in the EU under that name. That would be against the laws in place where it is sold.

> Or to put it differently, The US cheese industry has strong protection from the EU cheese industry's naming rules.

I suppose. Anyway, this is like buying hamburger meat and discovering it's made out of ostrich.

I think there's a big difference between making it illegal to name something because it wasn't manufactured in a certain spot, versus making it illegal because it's a completely different product. I couldn't care less if Feta was made in Greece or not. But Feta from cow's milk isn't Feta, any more than a peanut butter sandwich made with hummus isn't a peanut butter sandwich.

But then how would you find actual Feta (sheep/cow milk and original recipe) if everyone can call anything they want Feta?

two possible answers:

1) Specialist shops will stock imported authentic original Greek Feta

2) you don't - cheap product drives out the original. This is exactly why names like "feta" are protected in the EU.