We’re talking, AGAIN, about the San Marzano tomatoes scandal. I just received the comment below from Salvo Agusta, a lawyer in Italy, who explains what DOP really means in Europe. This is our point: it would be illegal in Europe to label a product San Marzano, if it is not a real San Marzano Tomato. This is what Salvo writes:
“Hello everybody, I saw that Gustiamo is talking about an Italian product that I really love and I appreciate the way you are defending it against imitations. Just to help you, I just want that people understand what is the “law meaning” of the acronym “D.O.P.”: D.o.p. means in English Protected Denomination Origin and here following I’m going to write the text of the European Law about it: “D.O. P. identifies a product that is made, processed and produced in a specific geographic area that has been thoroughly surveyed. The DOP designation is applied to products from a particular region/country having features that are primarily or exclusively attributable to the geographic environment (including natural and human elements) and that are produced and processed within the defined area.”-Art. 2, paragraph. 1, let. a), of regulation (CE) n. 510/2006.
And I want to say that the D.O. P. registration for those kind of tomatoes is officially: “Pomodoro di San Marzano dell’agro sarnese-nocerino”, but it is absolutely forbidden by the european law the use of similar name that can MISLEAD CONSUMERS!!! So, only tomatoes from that area (AGRO SARNESE-NOCERINO) can be named San Marzano; all the others – similar in the kind – can be noticed as: Pomodori stile San Marzano, just to let understand that they are not the original ones.”
Thank you, Salvo. Let me repeat: Nobody can call San Marzano a tomato that is not grown in the Sarnese Nocerino area. It is illegal. Grazie mille for explaining it!
Publ Aug 23, 2012
For me it’s just a pleasure help the GUSTIAMO’s team. I will be available for any further questions about this matter.
Grazie Salvatore!