Division 3.6 Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

All the product types — boned, cut up into pieces or sliced — and marked beforehand, must be marketed after packaging in suitable and correctly sealed food containers or packs. Slicing and packaging of ‘Prosciutto Toscano’ must be carried out at the end of the ageing process and in the production area referred to under point 4, in order to ensure that the different ageing periods for the sliced product are complied with and that the characteristics relating to the moisture content and appearance of the muscular and fatty parts of the slice, as described in point 3.2, are preserved. Allowing the legs which are to be sliced or cut up into boned pieces to be kept for unspecified periods in environments which differ from those specified could result in the development of characteristics inconsistent with those for which ‘Prosciutto Toscano’ is known, such as the formation of abnormal mould, abnormal protein degradation with a resulting change in the protein breakdown index, or even rancidity of the fat, which may give rise to aromas and flavours which differ from those traditionally appreciated by consumers. In addition, exposure of the pieces and slices of meat to the air before packaging may result in high oxidation of the edible surfaces, turning the meat brown and drying out the surface of the exposed muscle tissue, or in limp meat in the case of excess moisture.