Protected designation of origin

[2] European Regulation 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 acknowledges a priority to establish a community protection system that ensures equal conditions of competition between producers.

The Regulation applies to certain agricultural products and foods for which there is a link between the characteristics of the product or the food and its geographical origin: they may be wines, cheeses, hams, sausages, olives, beers, fruits, vegetables, breads or animal feed.

[3][1][4] Foods such as Parmigiano Reggiano, Gorgonzola, Asiago cheese, Camembert de Normandie, and Champagne can be labeled as such only if they come from the designated region.

For example, to be marketed under the Roquefort designation of origin,[5] a cheese must be processed from raw milk from a certain breed of sheep (Lacaune), the animals must be raised in a specific territory and the cheese obtained must be refined in one of the cellars at Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the French department of Aveyron, where it must be seeded with mold spores (Penicillium roqueforti) prepared from traditional strains endemic to these same cellars.

[7] Starting on 1 April 2019, the online database eAmbrosia was put into operation by the European Commission, which lists information about protected wines, spirits and food in the European Union and the previous three different databases: E-SPIRIT-DRINKS, DOOR and E -BACCHUS replaced on 31 December 2019.