Parmesano Reggiano has to come from the Parma region of Italy and is certified by some consortium of cheese makers I think. Same thing with San Marzano tomatoes.

There's not a problem per-se, but the issue is that in all reality you'd probably be getting an inferior product. The exclusivity is done so that consumers can be ensured that they are getting cheese from a specific area with specific criteria.

If you paid for Parmesan cheese and got something else, I’d say that’s already a problem. We are not even taking into consideration that counterfeit food products adhere to no food safety standards.

Procedures and ingredients quality are not respected in counterfeit products (for example it's acceptable, in the us, for grated parmesan to have cellulose/wood pulp in it) and they still sell you the stuff at a high price. i don't think anyone died because of these products but if you take fake parmigiano it's a $2B market.

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/amount-wood-pulp-grated-par...

https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/parmesan-che...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/11/19/the-dar...

What makes you think it will actually taste exactly the same?

For the example Parmesan cheese vs PDO (Protected Designation of Origin, under European law) Parmesan Reggiano cheese, the differences are in flavour and texture. It is absolutely possible to make Parmesan that matches PDO Parmesan Reggiano cheese outside of that region, but if you don't have the stamp (or counterfeit the stamp), you can't charge a premium price.

The same applies to a laundry list of food ingredients and products, including wines, cheeses, teas, produce, and meat. PDO isn't the only such scheme, several countries have their own appelation programs.

From a counterfeiting perspective there are three major concerns - misleading the consumer, economic harm to the cheesemakers in the region of origin, and potential food safety.

In terms of misleading the consumer, mass market parmesan cheese is usually produced with pasteurized milk vs raw milk and cured for 10 months vs 24 months. It is often sold ground into a fine powder to conceal the lower quality texture, and the flavour profile is substantially different. When cooking with 10 month cured cheese vs 24 month cured cheese, there is a noticeable difference in how the cheese melts and incorporates into different foods which can result in downstream lower quality foods (in terms of presentation and flavour, nutritionally the differences are negligable).

In terms of economic harm, parmesan cheese is substantially cheaper to produce, and has a retail price as low as $~0.50/ounce. PDO Parmesan ranges in price from $~1.50/ounce for 2 year aged, and as high as $~10/ounce (note my prices are converted from CAD to USD, and based on prices from the cheese market near me, prices may vary by market). If a counterfeiter can sell parmesan as PDO Parmesan Reggiano, they command a significant margin, even if they sell it much cheaper than the retail price).

In terms of health risks, PDO and other Appelation designations often require audits or reviews of production process to ensure compliance and quality control. Fake PDO Parm made with unpasteurized milk and not handled properly can bring the risks of using raw milk to the consumer - properly made PDO Parm results in a cured and extremely low moisture product that should destroy most of the bacteria and molds. Even minor changes in the production process can make the resulting product unsafe or higher risk for consumption.

The same could be said about anything. Clothes, watches, cars, hell even medicine.

If it is indistinguishable, is it different? It starts to get a bit philosophical from there on in.

I think though fakes tend to be significantly worse quality because they want to make loads of profit. I can't see cheese fraudsters going to the same lengths of maturation and all that because why bother.

To people who want to use the mark or origin to distinguish between quality goods and garbage before they buy them instead of after they taste them. You know, the primary use of a mark of origin.

You may have noticed that you supposed the opposite of what I supposed, for sanity’s sake.

Louis Vuitton fake bag may look 1:1 from good enough distance yet for some reason people keep buying them... what's the problem supposed to be? And that's before going into topic of being European and actually appreciating heritage, place of origin, craft skills etc. that go into making one of these.

In theory they were implanted in the wax coating on the outside of the rind, which is also edible but not something people would want to eat. Chunks of rind are great additions to simmering tomato sauces, just don't forget to remove it before serving!

Pineapple is similar in that it has enzymes that digest your tongue as you eat it.