Rome decries Italian sounding' pasta sauces on sale in EU parliament store

"Lollobrigida, of Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, was particularly vexed by a carbonara sauce made with Italiaanse pancetta the classic Roman pasta dish is made with a different cured meat, guanciale and a tomato sauce containing oignons de Calabria, or onions from Calabria. Ignoring the pancetta in carbonara all these products represent the worst of Italian sounding', he wrote on Facebook about his discovery."

"Italy has long tried to fight against the huge global market in Italian sounding products, that is food items which give the impression they are made in Italy when they are not. The own-label sauces are sold by the Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize and include an Italian flag on their packaging. Under EU regulations, a food product could be deemed to be misleading consumers if its labelling distorts its actual country of origin."

Francesco Lollobrigida discovered jars of Italian-sounding pasta sauces on European Parliament supermarket shelves and demanded an immediate investigation. He objected to a carbonara sauce using Italiaanse pancetta instead of traditional guanciale and to a tomato sauce labeled with oignons de Calabria (onions from Calabria). The own-label sauces are sold by Belgian chain Delhaize and display an Italian flag on their packaging. Reports said the products did not claim to be made in Italy but did include some Italian ingredients. EU rules allow products to be deemed misleading if labelling distorts country of origin. Coldiretti estimates fake Italian products cost €120bn annually.

Read at www.theguardian.com