PDO & PGI marks
To protect the uniqueness of some food products, the European Union has approved a specific regulation, establishing two levels of recognition: PDO and PGI.
To protect the uniqueness of some food products, the European Union has approved a specific regulation, establishing two levels of recognition: PDO and PGI.
To protect the uniqueness of some food products, the European Union has approved a specific regulation, establishing two levels of recognition: PDO and PGI. The intention is to protect the names of the products and their typicality from imitations and abuses, supporting the different productions and helping consumers in the choice of food products through information and guarantees regarding their characteristics.
Both PDO and PGI marks are a valid guarantee for the consumer, who thus knows how to buy quality food which is meeting certain requirements and is produced in compliance with precise specifications. The respect of the rules is strict and guaranteed by relevant control bodies, specifically authorised by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food, Forestry Policies and Tourism. The two marks also provide protection for the producers themselves against possible imitations and unfair competition.
The Italian cured meats which have obtained the coveted European PDO and PGI marks represent about a quarter of the heritage of typical European meat products, showing that Italy is the country with the widest variety of fine quality deli meats.
The abbreviation PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) designates a product originating in a region and a country whose qualities and characteristics are specifically due to the geographical environment (including natural and human factors). All the production and processing of the product must take place in a defined area, in compliance with a traditional prescription.
The acronym PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) introduces a new level of qualitative protection which takes into account the industrial development of the sector, giving more importance to the production techniques than to the territorial constraint. Thus, this mark identifies a product originating from a region and a country whose quality, reputation, recipe and characteristics can be traced back to the geographical origin, and of which at least one phase of production and / or processing occurs in the delimited area.
The origins of pigmeat processing are lost in the mists of time, but it is certain that pig was one of the most appreciated animals by man. Even in Italy, the use of pork, especially salted and processed into cured meats, has ancient roots
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