Sicilian bread gets EU quality label

A type of traditional Sicilian bread has obtained a European Union protected label.
The 'Pagnotta del Dittaino', a naturally leavened round loaf made from durum wheat and famous for its long-lasting properties, earned a Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) seal.
The bread, which is made in several towns and villages between Enna and Catania in east-central Sicily, stretches Italy's lead in the EU 'protected name' speciality rankings over France and Spain.
Italy has 180 products that have won one of the three protected origin laurels - PDO, PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) and TSG (Traditional Guaranteed Speciality).
The bread's elevation came only two days after Roman suckling lamb, abbacchio romano, earned a PGI label.
And the abbacchio's achievement came less than a week after news that balsamic vinegar from Modena is set to win a PGI label.
Italian culinary glories like Parmigiano, buffalo mozzarella, mortadella, lardo di Colonnata, Ascoli olives, pesto sauce and Pachino plum tomatos have been protected for some time but lesser-known munchies like Mt Etna prickly pears and Paestum artichokes have also swelled the ranks along with saffron from San Gimignano and L'Aquila.
A range of salamis, rices, honeys and nuts are also on the protected list.
Some notable recent Italian entries have been: a golden tench from Piedmont, the Tinca Gobba Dorata, which got a PDO; salty anchovies from the Ligurian Sea, which got a PGI; the Casatella cheese from Treviso, which got a PDO; a spring onion from Nocera Inferiore, which got a PDO; a chestnut from Roccadaspide, also in Campania, which got a PGI; bread from Matera in Basilicata, which got a PGI; an onion from Tropea in Calabria, which got a PGI; and a salame from Sant'Angelo in Sicily, which also got a PGI.
Several up-and-coming regional wines have earned TGIs.
PDO identifies a product whose characteristics are exclusively dependant on a geographical origin and whose productive phases all take place in the specified area.
PGI defines a product whose characteristics can be connected with its geographical origin and that has at least one productive phase located in the specified area.
TGS distinguishes a product, whose raw materials, composition or recipe, production method or transformation, are of a traditional type.
More than two-thirds of the EU's protected food specialities are Italian.