[moate]

The US doesn't have a lot of "protected region" products. Obviously things with a state name or place have to be from that place, but we don't really do that as much here as Europe. Just not the American way I guess.

It's why you can buy "Swiss Cheese" from Wisconsin and Bourbon Whiskey from Orlando.

[brodouevencode]

That's fair. The US has a history of special interest groups petitioning the government for regulations that would benefit them. I suppose this happens in the EU too but it's all over the place here.

I didn't grow up in one of the counties that are considered under the bounds of the Vidalia area (although pretty close) but we grew the same onions. They tasted, smelled, and looked exactly the same. Were I to try to sell them as Vidalias I could have been sued, but we were growing them for personal consumption anyway.