The EU will protect the real Neapolitan pizza: its name becomes Stg, i.e. “guaranteed traditional specialty”, no one will be able to write “Neapolitan pizza” on the menu if they do not respect the rules set by the production specification on ingredients, preparation and cooking methods. If there is a symbol of Made in Italy in the world it is pizza, and this is a great victory for Italian productions in the battle for the protection of brands and specialties.
Concretely, the European protection of pizza is contained in the Official Journal, where the EU Implementing Regulation 2022/2313 has just been published which approved Italy’s request in Brussels to guarantee protection subject to the name for the “Pizza Napoletana” Stg. This wording can now be used on the packaging or on the menus of restaurants and pizzerias in Italy and in the European Union only if certain characteristics relating to the preparation are guaranteed: the minimum leavening hours, the hand-rolling of the dough, the filling methods, cooking exclusively in a wood oven at a temperature of 485°C and the height of the ledge of 1-2 cm, with the control of a third party certification body. The limits also concern the use of basic raw materials, which must be made in Italy, such as extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop or traditional Mozzarella Stg. The tomatoes, on the other hand, can be peeled, or fresh cherry tomatoes.
«If the “Pizza Napoletana” does not have all these characteristics – Coldiretti writes in a note, applauding Brussels – it will be an offense on which the Central Inspectorate for the protection of quality and the repression of frauds (Icqrf) is already working to update the related sanctioning provisions concerning the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin of agricultural and food products”. The new regulation, which enters into force on 18 December, «finally secures the international fame of a symbolic dish of Made in Italy», writes Coldiretti.
The art of the Neapolitan pizza chef has already been registered in Unesco as an intangible heritage of humanity since 2017. In Italy, the pizza business is worth 15 billion euros and employs over 100,000 full-time workers, who become 200,000 at the weekend. Every day in Italy alone, around 8 million pizzas are baked using 200 million kilos of flour, 225 million kilos of mozzarella, 30 million kilos of olive oil and 260 million kilos of tomato sauce.