EN Official Journal of the European Union C 315/12

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2009/C 315/08

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘SAUCISSE DE MORTEAU’ or ‘JÉSUS DE MORTEAU’

EC No: FR-PGI-0005-0556-26.09.2006

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Saucisse de Morteau’ or ‘Jésus de Morteau’

2. Member State or third country:

France

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Type of product:

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies:

‘Saucisse de Morteau’ is a straight sausage with a regular, cylindrical form and a diameter of at least 40 mm (diameter of the casing at the time of filling) made from pork. ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ is filled into a natural, colourless pork casing (large intestine). The casing is closed at one end by a small wooden stick and by a string made of natural fibre at the other.

‘Jésus de Morteau’ is a particular form of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ with a less regular cylindrical appearance and a diameter of at least 65 mm (diameter of the casing at the time of filling). ‘Jésus de Morteau’ is also filled into a natural, colourless pork casing (large intestine or caecum). If a caecum casing is used, the small wooden stick is not always present as the caecum is naturally closed at one end.

‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ can therefore have physical variations given the diversity of the casings used. When cooked, each slice of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ has a coarsely minced yet uniform texture and is consistent and firm in appearance.

Smoking gives the sausages a typical amber colour, somewhere between brown and golden. Nevertheless, the colour is not uniform throughout the product. ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ are prepared from a mixture of lean pork and pork cutting fat (hard fat), coarsely minced and mixed. The transparency of the casings allows the lean pork to appear as dark patches and the fat as light patches. ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ has a firm consistency.

The smoke flavour is one of the major characteristics of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ and is due both to the sawdust and resinous wood used and to the duration of the smoking process. In the raw product, this flavour is distinct. However, when cooked and in the mouth, the smoked flavour is balanced and lasting without being sharp or bitter. ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ are also characterised by their meaty taste without being too dry or too fatty.

The texture of cooked ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ is tender and smooth, with coarse, firm mince. In the mouth, the product must not be tough or rubbery, but firm and juicy.

The physico-chemical properties of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ are as follows:

moisture content with fat removed : ≤ 75 % (raw product) fat : ≤ 30 % for a moisture content of 75 % (raw product) collagen/protein : 16 % maximum (raw product) sugar content : ≤ 1 % for a moisture content of 75 % (raw product)

3.3. Raw materials:

Quality criteria for selecting meat

Rearing of animals

The animals selected for fattening are females and castrated males. Uncastrated males, including young males that have not yet reached sexual maturity, males castrated of a single testicle, males with cryptorchidism, hermaphrodites and cull sows are not accepted. The proportion of fattening pigs sensitive to halothane must be less than 3 % and all must be non-carriers of the RN- allele.

In order to establish healthy rearing conditions and limit the need for additives and treatment, a procedure for cleaning, disinfecting and drying has been put in place between each batch at all stages of fattening pig production. The use of tranquillising medicaments is prohibited in the 48 hours prior to the animal’s departure from the farm and during transport. At the time of loading, the animal has been fasted for at least 12 hours.

Slaughter and cutting

There is a waiting time of at least two hours prior to slaughter. The pigs are rinsed down when they arrive at the slaughterhouse and 30 minutes prior to anaesthesia.

The minimum warm weight for pig carcases is 80 kg. Blemishes are limited to 5 % for all carcases in a client batch. The following are considered as blemishes:

— hair removal blemishes,

— rind blemishes,

— burst blood vessels,

— bruising,

— fractures,

— presence of foreign matter (grease stain, traces of faeces, offal fragments and any other undesirable foreign substance).

The pH is an indicator of the technological quality of the carcases and, therefore, has to be controlled. Control methods involving sampling have to be specified and documented at slaughterhouse level. The ultimate pH (taken at least 18 hours after slaughter) falls within the range 5,50 ≤ pH < 6,20. The measurement is taken 5 cm above the sirloin end at a depth of 2-3 cm.

The cuts that may be used in the mixture are as follows (no other cuts are permitted):

— leg,

— shoulder,

— belly,

— backfat,

— loin,

— trimmings (if used, the jowl must be prepared and not have any glands or red blotches).

The proportions of meat used should be within the following ranges:

— pork cutting fat (hard fat): 15-35 % of the meat to be used in the mixture,

— lean pork meat: 65-85 % of the meat to be used in the mixture.

The use of frozen raw materials (pork fat or lean meat) is permitted and limited to 15 % of the mixture. Frozen raw materials must be minced within 24 hours of thawing. ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ from a mixture containing raw materials that had been frozen must be smoked within 24 hours of the thawed meat being minced.

Cuts that can be used for making ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ may not be frozen for longer than 12 months (lean meat) or 9 months (fat).

Cuts with one or more of the following defects are non-compliant:

— hair removal blemishes,

— rind blemishes,

— burst blood vessels,

— bruising,

— fractures,

— presence of foreign matter (grease stain, traces of faeces, offal fragments and any other undesirable foreign substance),

— abscesses.

Loin meat with colour score 1 or 2 (based on the Japanese colour scale or equivalent) and blade shoulder meat with colour score 6 is eliminated. Meat with soft and oily fat is eliminated.

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only):

The diet of the fattening pigs to be used to make ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ contains whey (fresh or dried, mainly skimmed). The proportion of whey in the fattening diet is between 15 % and 35 % of the dry matter. The complementary feedingstuff for whey contains at least 50 % grains and miller’s offals.

The fattening diet must contain less than 1,7 % linoleic acid.

3.5. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area:

The production of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’, from preparation of the mixture through to smoking, must take place within the geographical area.

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

For reasons of food safety, the frozen, cooked or sliced product must be packaged when passed on to the consumer.

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

Labelling of the product must contain the following information:

— name under which product is sold: ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ or ‘Jésus de Morteau’.

Each product is sold under either the name ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ or the name ‘Jésus de Morteau’.

By default, the name ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ is used, but products that satisfy the criteria for ‘jésus’-type sausages may use the name ‘Jésus de Morteau’ instead.

If the sausage has not been smoked in a ‘thué’ smokehouse, then visual or written communications relating to the product may not make reference to this type of smokehouse.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The geographical area of production for ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ is made up of all four departments of the Franche-Comté region (i.e. Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône and Territoire de Belfort).

This geographical area corresponds to the area with traditional expertise for making and smoking ‘Saucisse de Morteau’. It also corresponds to the area where ‘tuyés’ and traditional smokehouses are to be found throughout the entire Franche-Comté region.

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

As the activity to have played a major role in shaping the landscape, agriculture in the Franche-Comté region is geared mainly towards cattle farming, with a particular focus on dairy production. The region has a very well-developed cheesemaking industry with Protected Designation of Origin status. There is a large number of ‘fruitières’ (as the cheese dairies are known locally) scattered throughout the area.

These dairies produce whey, a choice raw material for animal feed because it is low in fat and unsaturated fatty acids but yet relatively rich in lysine and threonine (essential amino acids for pigs in particular). It is therefore the development of the cheese dairies (which, due to their small size make use of whey on site without being transported or chilled) that has enabled whey-based pig rearing to develop in the Franche-Comté region.

The link between cheese production and pig production is therefore a direct and traditional one and, in contrast to nearly all other regions, this tradition has survived here.

Pig production in this area encouraged the development of artisanal and industrial pig processors by providing these operators with a raw material that had not been diverted to national or international markets. That explains the continued existence of a relatively dense network of small and medium-size slaughterhouses and cutters in the area of production supplying a network of more than 30 local processors. The fact that there are still so many is a reflection of the dynamism of the area.

Another characteristic feature of Franche-Comté is its large, mainly coniferous, forest, particularly in the mountainous zone. It is the availability of resinous wood that has enabled the practice of smoking to develop.

Generally speaking, smoked products are traditionally products from eastern France and Europe. Historically, smoking was used to dry and thus preserve products, and was particularly prevalent in colder, mountainous areas where the process of smoking could be tied in with the need to heat dwellings. This gave rise to the concept of the ‘thué’ in Franche-Comté. A ‘thué’ was the farm’s heating centre and smokehouse, used to temporarily store pork in order to dry, smoke and thus preserve it. The practice, which was initially developed in Haut-Doubs, is the origin of the expertise in smoking that then spread throughout the entire Franche-Comté region with the appearance of smoking structures based on the principles of the ‘thué’.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

Characteristics associated in particular with the selection of raw materials and with a special method of processing

Specific characteristics linked to the production process are as follows:

— systematic use of wooden sticks for ‘Saucisse de Morteau’, although in the case of ‘Jésus de Morteau’ the caecum is used as a casing,

— use of large intestine as a casing for ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ stuffing and caecum or large intestine as a casing for ‘Jésus de Morteau’,

— the casing used for ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ is at least 40 mm in diameter at the time of filling, whereas the casing for ‘Jésus de Morteau’ has a diameter of at least 65 mm,

— the filling is coarsely minced with the calibre of the grain being at least 8 mm for fat and meat,

— slow smoking with resinous wood,

— specific amber colour after smoking.

The product owes its taste and smell, specific texture (separate grains of fat and lean meat, tenderness) and visual appearance (white-coloured fat and uniformly coloured lean meat) to the specific characteristics of the raw material.

The raw material comes from pigs which have been genetically selected and on a specific diet.

The pigs are fed on a whey diet with a restricted linoleic acid content (1,7 % of their diet), and so it is possible to select fat that is only slightly unsaturated. This characteristic gives fat grains which are distinctly separate in the mixture and have a pleasing white colour. It also makes ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ more resistant to heat during smoking or cooking, and prevents the fat from melting.

The low levels of unsaturated fatty acids (the result of being fed on whey) also prevent the sausages from developing a rancid odour.

Unsaturated fat is also more adhesive and limiting levels of it allowing the product to capture the smoke better. In the presence of destructured fats, the smoke aromas are captured on the periphery of the casing and form an impermeable film that prevents the smoke from penetrating deep into the sausage.

Whey feed, combined with selective genetic criteria, mean that the resulting meat is uniformly pink in colour. In conjunction with the firm, white fats, this helps keep the special grain of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ very visible.

A reputation dating back to the 18th century

For a long time, ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ enjoyed a local and regional reputation, spread only by merchants and people passing through the area from the 18th century onwards. The product was part of the traditional rural diet, and was associated in particular with Sunday meals or, in the case of the ‘Jésus de Morteau’, Christmas meals. Its reputation then spread outside the original area as people could identify it clearly both due to its high degree of recognisability (coarse grain, colour, wooden peg) and to its organoleptic qualities (coarse mince, smoky taste).

‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ are products which are well known by the general public, restaurant owners and consumers alike. A public awareness survey conducted in 2008 showed that 71 % of consumers knew about the product. People immediately regard it as a symbol of Franche-Comté cuisine, alongside the various cheeses and wines of the region. This strong link between Franche-Comté and ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ is still alive today and puts the product at the heart of Franche-Comté’s culinary heritage.

Although this reputation is due mainly to the name ‘Saucisse de Morteau’, the name ‘Jésus de Morteau’ is also well-known in its own right, particularly in the region, where it can often be found alongside ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ on shop shelves.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI):

Characteristics linked to the geographical area of production

‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ characteristically undergo a slow smoking process. Slow smoking means that smoke has to be produced on a constant basis as this is an important factor for smoking. This expertise in slow-smoking is manifested in an ability to achieve slow combustion without a flame and to produce sawdust and wood according to various criteria, and is passed on in regional businesses. The practice itself and human skills associated with it developed as a response to local restrictions. Conifers grow in great numbers in the Franche-Comté forest, particularly in the mountainous zone. Local meat curers, very logically, used the types of wood at their disposal. The practice of using resinous wood and the practice of slow-smoking, which was originally developed in the mountainous areas, also spread throughout the entire Franche-Comté region. The presence of conifers means that the smoking process which ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ undergo was developed solely on the basis of resinous woods — in contrast to other types of smoked sausage sold at national and European level, which are smoked using wood from deciduous trees. Slow-smoking by means of resinous wood is an extremely specific characteristic of ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ and ‘Jésus de Morteau’ giving it its amber colour and a smoked taste closely linked to the area in which it is produced.

Furthermore, in conjunction with the smoking practice, the practices of coarse mincing, using wooden pegs and filling the sausages into the pig’s large intestine are all traditional local practices specific to the Franche-Comté region. The Franche-Comté region is an area that corresponds to a zone of expertise.

Reputation closely linked to place of origin

The product’s reputation is one of the fundamental elements linking it to the geographic area. This is manifested, among other things, by the annual ‘Saucisse de Morteau’ festival and competition which take place on the 15 August weekend and in October, respectively.

Reference to publication of the specification:

http://www.inao.gouv.fr/repository/editeur/pdf/CDCIGP/CDCSaucisseDeMorteauOuJesusDeMorteau.pdf