When you are eating a sandwich of Prosciutto di Parma with Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, what are you really eating? If you are sitting in a Parma café, the mere fact of ordering a lunch by that name guarantees that your ham and your cheese have been produced according to certain strict guidelines in a defined geographical region according to traditional methods. The name of the food is protected, and carries behind it both legal status and generations of culinary tradition. It also promises that it was made locally by small independent businesses using local ingredients.
Background on the Protected Designation of Origin Program
The European Community’s Protected Designation of Origin is a certification that protects the names of certain kinds of foods, much like a trademark protects the names of certain types of manufactured products. The system was established in 1992, inspired by the DOC (in Italian: Denominzzione d’Origine Controllata) and AOC (in French: Appellation d’Origine Controlee) designations used to protect and identify regional wines.
As an example, the sparkling wine we call Champagne can only be called Champagne if it is made in a certain way in the Champagne region of France. No other wine may use the name, although it can be described as being made in the manner of champagne (methode champagnoise).
Similarly, under the PDO system, the ham we call Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) can only be given that name if it is produced in a certain way by certain authorized manufacturers within the region in and immediately around Parma.
The idea that the names of certain types of food deserve protection is heavily influenced by the idea of terroir (in French), or tipicita (in Italian), and has values in common with the “Slow Food” movement, which was started by Carlo Petrini in 1986 as a response to the opening of a McDonald’s near Rome’s iconic Spanish Steps. This terroir, or tipicita, concept is based on the belief that flavor and quality of a food product are formed through a complicated interaction of factors that include local climate, sunshine and rain, the type of grass a cow eats, the type of soil a plant grows in, and production methods; and that these factors cannot be replicated elsewhere, let alone be mass-produced
The protection is legal: Once a food is protected, the name cannot be used by any other similar product. Take Parmesan cheese as an example. The name Parmigiano-Reggiano and all look-alike and sound-alike varieties of that name are protected: Search as hard as you can, but you will not find a European supermarket selling the product we call “Parmesan cheese” in America, at least, not by that name. Kraft may sell cheese in that packaging, made in that style, but they cannot use the name Parmesan. (And indeed, whether or not these names should be legal to use in America is a hotly and currently debated international trade issue.)
How Does a Food Achieve “Protected Designation of Origin” Status?
Two factors influence whether PDO protection can be granted to a type of food: It must be made according to traditional methods, and the foods must be associated with a particular geographic region.
To begin the designation process, a group of producers must get together and describe precisely what it is that makes their product unique. This can be tricky, because each traditional producer may do certain things a little differently. To get their designation approved, they have to agree on the established manufacturing processes they all use, as well as the origin of ingredients. They must also follow the regulations that their producing country may have regarding food production.
If their application is approved by their national governing authority, they then apply to the European Commission. Once approved, that group of producers now has the right to identify their food as a PDO product. They may place an optional PDO seal on the product packaging. The seal tells consumers, food sellers, chefs, owners and managers of eating establishments, food distributors and wholesalers, and other culinary professionals that when they are buying a product with a given name, that they are buying the “real thing,” not an imitator that may come from other regions or use different methods of production.
European food makers who have achieved the PDO designation are proud of their foods, and often offer tours of their small-scale factories, showing the methods of production and offering tasting samples.
Information in this article was collected during a culinary tour of Emila-Romagna, Italy, where the author visited several factories and manufacturers of PDO-protected foods.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
