The European Commission has approved three new protected designations of origin (PDOs) for products from Spain and Poland, adding them to the EU’s register of protected food and drink names.
PDO status is an EU scheme that protects the name of a product linked to a specific place, where production, processing and preparation take place in that area, the Commission noted in a release on Tuesday.
Two of the newly registered names come from Spain. “Pernil Cerretà” is a cured ham from Catalonia made from a hind leg of a non-Iberian pig breed, which is trimmed into a rounded shape and cured for at least seven months for boneless ham or nine months for bone-in ham.
The ham is not smoked and uses pepper in a high-temperature dry-curing and maturing process.
“Aceite de las Sierras Espadán y Calderona” has also been registered as a PDO, covering extra virgin and virgin olive oil produced in a mountainous area in the northern part of the Valencian region between the provinces of Valencia and Castellón.
The oil is made from local olive varieties, particularly Serrana de Espadán.
Polish apples added to the list
Poland’s new PDO is “Jabłka krajeńskie”, an apple grown in the Krajna region that the Commission said is characterised by higher sugar content and greater firmness compared with the same varieties grown in other parts of Poland.
The Commission linked the apples’ colour and flavour to local climate conditions in southern Krajna, including a higher number of sunny days and moderate precipitation.
The three new designations join more than 3,900 protected names already listed in the EU’s eAmbrosia geographical indications database.
