Useless knowledge we dug up this week.
Italian Sounding
It’s a tale as old as time: You’re a college student on a budget. Looking to pick up some meals for the week, you head to the frozen food section … but what to grab? Tater tots? Mixed vegetables? Pizza? Sure, that $1 frozen pizza with an Italian flag on the label is about as Italian as Mario and Luigi, but pizza’s pizza, right? Not if the Italians have anything to say about it. You’ve just fallen victim to Italian Sounding.
“Italian Sounding” is a term created by the Italian government to describe a global marketing phenomenon in which non-Italian manufacturers attempt to pass their goods off as “Made in Italy” (or related to Italy at all). While a good number of Italian “knock-off” products—parmesan cheese, for example—were in fact invented by Italian migrants, Italy estimates that it loses almost $60 billion in revenue annually to counterfeits of Italian products. The products counterfeited the most? Get ready to feel hungry: Parmigiano Reggiano, gorgonzola, salami, prosecco, asiago, pecorino, Chianti, and prosciutto. And don’t even get them started on frozen “pizza” … The United States may never be forgiven for its crimes against Italian cuisine.