# Commission Regulation (EC) No 1362/2007 of 22 November 2007 entering a designation in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Salame Cremona (PGI)), Division 4.5: Method of production:

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The production process may be summed up as follows: the basic ingredients for PGI production must come from pigs treated according to a series of provisions governing feed composition and feeding practice. Among the pigs that may be used are the traditional Large White Italiana and Landrace Italiana breeds, as improved by the Italian herdbook (Libro Genealogico Italiano), or the progeny of boars of such breeds; the progeny of boars of the Duroc Italiana breed, as improved by the Italian herdbook; the progeny of boars of other breeds or cross-bred boars provided they come from selection or crossing schemes whose purposes are compatible with those of the Italian herd book for the production of heavy pigs.
The pigs are sent for slaughter between the end of their ninth month and their fifteenth month. The average weight of each pig sent for slaughter must lie between 144 kg and 176 kg.
The pork used in the sausage consists of muscle tissue from carcases and pieces of striated muscle and fat.
Ingredients: salt, spices, peppercorns and roughly milled pepper, garlic crushed and worked into the mixture.
Other ingredients (if any): still white or red wine, sugar and/or dextrose and/or fructose and/or lactose, starter ferment, sodium and/or potassium nitrite, ascorbic acid and sodium salt.
The use of mechanically recovered meat is prohibited.
Preparation: the pieces of muscle and fat are carefully trimmed, with removal of the larger bits of connective tissue, soft fat, lymph nodes and nerves. The meat is ground in mincers using blades with 6 mm holes. During mincing, the meat must be at a temperature higher than 0 °C; the meat is salted during slaughter; the other ingredients and flavourings are added to the minced meat. The ingredients are mixed in a vacuum machine or at atmospheric pressure for a long period. Salame Cremona is packed into natural porcine, bovine, equine or ovine casings of an initial diameter of 65 mm or more. The sausage is tied off manually or mechanically with string. The product may be kept in storage chambers for up to one day at a temperature between 2 °C and 10 °C. The product is warm-dried at a temperature of between 15 °C and 25 °C.
Maturing takes place in premises where there is adequate air circulation at a temperature between 11 °C and 16 °C for a period of at least five weeks. The period of maturing varies, according to the initial diameter of the casing.
Salame Cremona may be released for consumption by the piece, in vacuum packs or in protective atmosphere packs, whole or in thick or thin slices.
Producers who wish to use the PGI must respect the rules deposited with the European Union in every particular.
Production, packaging and slicing must be carried out under the supervision of the control body referred to in Article 7 of the specification, exclusively in the production area defined in Article 3 of the specification, in order to permit checks and ensure traceability and preserve the product’s quality features.
If the product were to be packaged outside the geographical area specified in the specification, it would be impossible to guarantee continuous controls on all the producers, which would mean that there were serious loopholes in the PGI certification system. With such loopholes it would no longer be possible to guarantee that the name was being used correctly, which would be in the interests neither of the producers nor of the consumer. In other words, not ensuring that packaging operations were subject to controls would lead directly to the elimination of two other basic elements: the guarantee of a consistent level of quality, which is checked in the course of each control operation, and the guarantee of origin, that is the assurance of perfect traceability throughout each stage of processing, including packaging.
In addition, authorising packaging outside the traditional geographical area would also jeopardise the quality of Salame Cremona, given that the product would be transported in temperature controlled conditions and sliced ‘at a remove in terms of both time and space’, which would affect the organoleptic characteristics of the sausage.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2007/1362/annex/II/division/SALAME/division/4/division/4.5 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2007-1362/annex-II/division-SALAME/division-4/division-4.5
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.