The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such as pennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world.

By the 19th century black pudding manufacture was linked with towns known for their large markets for pork, such as Stretford,[4][5] then in Lancashire, and Cork, Ireland.

[6] Most traditional recipes from the UK involve stirring the fresh blood,[7] adding fat and some form of rusk, and seasoning, before filling the mixture into a casing and boiling it.

Natural casings of beef intestine were formerly used, though modern commercially made puddings use synthetic cellulose skins, and are usually produced from imported dried blood.

[17] The Stornoway black pudding, made in the Western Isles of Scotland, has been granted Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin status.

[18] Having been brought there by immigrants, black pudding is now part of the local cuisine of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

[20] Sneem Black Pudding is a local variety produced in County Kerry; it has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.

[citation needed] Since the 1980s, the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships has been held annually in Ramsbottom, Bury, Greater Manchester.