Current:Home > ContactMiller High Life, "The Champagne of Beers," has fallen afoul of strict European laws on "champagne"-LoTradeCoin
Miller High Life, "The Champagne of Beers," has fallen afoul of strict European laws on "champagne"
lotradecoin high-volume trader discounts View Date:2024-12-25 12:37:31
It doesn't matter if a drink is bubbly — it's not "champagne" unless it's from the Champagne region in France. And it's definitely not champagne if it's beer, as American beermaker Miller found out, to its cost.
The company has long advertised its Miller High Life as "The Champagne of Beers." However, the Comité Champagne — the committee set up to protect the Champagne designation — begs to differ.
Goods cannot be imported into Europe with the name "Champagne" if they are not produced in the Champagne region.
Customs officers in Belgium seized a shipment of 2,352 cans of the beer in February, after it landed in the Belgian port of Antwerp, on its way to Germany. Officials seized the cans "because they used the protected designation of origin 'Champagne,' and this goes against European regulations," Belgian customs general administrator Kristian Vanderwaeren told reporters.
The European Union has a system of protected geographical designations that was created to guarantee the true origin and quality of artisanal food, wine and spirits, and to protect them from imitation.
The Comité Champagne has been active in preventing other regions and countries from calling their sparkling white wines "champagne," even when some are produced by French champagne houses investing abroad, as has been the case in Australia, for example.
Based in Milwaukee, Miller has been using the phrase "Champagne of Beers" since 1906.
At the request of the Champagne Committee, the Belgian Customs Administration ordered the cans destroyed. So this week, customs officers popped each can, upended them in open-bottomed crates, and let the offending liquid seep out.
Then the empty cans were crushed by heavy machinery and sent for recycling.
Belgian customs officials said the destruction of the cans was paid for by the Comité Champagne. According to a joint statement, it was carried out "with the utmost respect for environmental concerns by ensuring that the entire batch, both contents and container, was recycled in an environmentally responsible manner."
- In:
- European Union
- Beer
veryGood! (9794)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Follow Your Dreams
- Historic hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Tustin partially collapses after massive fire
- Historic hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Tustin partially collapses after massive fire
- Ohio State holds off Georgia for top spot in College Football Playoff rankings
- A Malibu wildfire prompts evacuation orders and warnings for 20,000, including Dick Van Dyke, Cher
- Today's Mississippi governor election pits Elvis's second cousin Brandon Presley against incumbent Tate Reeves
- Upping revenue likely the least disruptive way to address future deficits, state budget expert says
- Heinz will release a pickle ketchup to meet the growing demand for dill-flavored products
- Luigi Mangione's Lawyer Speaks Out in UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder Case
- Are I-bonds a good investment now? Here's what to know.
Ranking
- GM to retreat from robotaxis and stop funding its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit
- Migration experts say Italy’s deal to have Albania house asylum-seekers violates international law
- How the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Middle East amid Israel-Hamas war
- Nike sues New Balance and Skechers over patent infringement
- SCDF aids police in gaining entry to cluttered Bedok flat, discovers 73
- Lebanese woman and her 3 granddaughters killed in Israeli strike laid to rest
- Biden administration guidance on abortion to save mother’s life argued at appeals court
- Jeremy Renner has undergone 'countless hours' of 'every type of therapy' since snowplow accident
Recommendation
-
Google forges ahead with its next generation of AI technology while fending off a breakup threat
-
Live updates | More Palestinians fleeing combat zone in northern Gaza, UN says
-
Cody Dorman, who watched namesake horse win Breeders’ Cup race, dies on trip home
-
Control of Virginia's state Legislature is on the ballot Tuesday
-
Lil Durk suspected of funding a 2022 murder as he seeks jail release in separate case
-
As price of olive oil soars, chainsaw-wielding thieves target Mediterranean’s century-old trees
-
Croatia recommends people drink tap water after several fall from drinking bottled drinks
-
The Excerpt podcast: Trump testifies in fraud trial, hurling insults at judge, prosecutor