Free Trade Leaves Bad Taste for Chefs

PARIS —  European chefs this week urged the European Community to avoid killing off regional delicacies by allowing too much free trade and too many uniform hygiene rules.

The chefs were responding to a survey listing France’s red-clawed crayfish, Belgium’s Ostend oysters, Dutch eel from Ijsselmeer, shellfish from the Danish island of Sjaelland, English Stilton blue cheese and smoked meat from all over Europe among the delicacies under threat and already hard to find.

The 3,000 chefs, attending their annual conference, were asked if they were willing to fight for their traditional foods. They voted a resounding “yes.”

The survey was organized by the European chefs group Euro-Toques at the request of the French farm ministry.

Worried about the creation of a single European market as of Jan. 1, France has been actively lobbying to protect its traditional farm products from European Community competitors.