Italy has made it a legal requirement to indicate the origin of cold cuts, such as salami, mortadella, hams and culatello, on product labelling.
The initiative aims to support authentic Italian products and "expose the deception of foreign meat being passed off as Italian," according to the president of Italian farmers lobby group Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini.
A survey by Coldiretti found that 82% of Italians wanted to purchase 'Made in Italy' products to support the economy and local businesses.
The success of the #mangiaitaliano campaign, promoted by Coldiretti and Filiera Italia, confirms this trend, it added.
New Requirements
As per the new requirements, product labels must indicate legibly the country of birth, breeding and slaughter of the animal, Coldiretti added.
When the meat comes from pigs born, raised and slaughtered in the same country, the indication of origin will be marked as 'Origin: (name of the country)'.
The expression '100% Italian' is reserved for meat from pigs born, bred, slaughtered, and processed in Italy.
Meat from pigs born, raised and slaughtered in one or more EU or non-EU member states will feature 'Origin: EU,' 'Origin: Extra-EU', or 'Origin: EU and Extra-EU' on the label.
According to ISTAT data, an estimated 35 million Italians are regular consumers of cold cuts, produced by around 5,000 pig farms.
Coldiretti estimates that three out of every four hams sold in Italy use foreign meat without indicating so on the label.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.