EN Official Journal of the European Union C 283/11

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 8(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 on agricultural products and foodstuffs as traditional specialities guaranteed

2012/C 283/09

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF A TSG

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 509/2006

‘PRAŽSKÁ ŠUNKA’

EC No: CZ-TSG-0007-0061-21.10.2010

1. Name and address of the applicant group:

Name: Český svaz zpracovatelů masa Address: Libušská 319 142 00 Praha 4 – Písnice ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Tel. +420 244092404 Fax +420 244092405 E-mail: reditel@cszm.cz

2. Member State or Third Country:

Czech Republic

3. Product specification:

3.1. Name(s) to be registered (Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Пражка шунка’ (BG), ‘Jamón de Praga’ (ES), ‘Pražská šunka’ (CS), ‘Prag Skinke’ (DA), ‘Prager Schinken’ (DE), ‘Praha sink’ (ET), ‘Χοιρομέρι Πράγας’ (EL), ‘Prague Ham’ (EN), ‘Jambon de Prague’ (FR), ‘Prosciutto di Praga’ (IT), ‘Prāgas šķiņķis’ (LV), ‘Prahos kumpis’ (LT), ‘Prágai minősegi sonka’ (HU), ‘Perzut ta' Praga’ (MT), ‘Praagse Ham’ (NL), ‘Szynka Praska’ (PL), ‘Fiambre de Praga’ (PT), ‘Jambon de Praga’ (RO), ‘Pražská šunka’ (SK), ‘Praška šunka’ (SL), ‘Prahalainen kinkku’ (FI), ‘Prag skinka’ (SV)

3.2. Whether the name:

☒ is specific in itself  expresses the specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff

The traditional name ‘Pražská šunka’ does not express the specific character of the product or link the product’s specific character to its provenance or agricultural origin, but is specific in itself, as it is internationally associated with a renowned meat product having a characteristic shape and taste which has long been made in the following variants:

— ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone,

— boneless ‘Pražská šunka’,

— tinned ‘Pražská šunka’.

3.3. Whether reservation of the name is sought under Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 509/2006:

☒ Registration with reservation of the name  Registration without reservation of the name

3.4. Type of product:

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

3.5. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff to which the name under point (3.1) applies (Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Pražská šunka’ is a traditional meat product intended for direct consumption.

Physical properties of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

— Product having an overall weight not exceeding 10 kg;

— The original shape of the pork leg which has been cut in the Prague style (the flank and sacrum including tail and pelvic bone are removed from the whole bone-in ham, including the knuckle and excluding the trotter; the fatty part is rounded from the loin end) is maintained.

Chemical properties of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

— Pure muscle protein content: min. 16 % by weight. The product’s surface coating, composed of fat and skin, is not homogenised into the sample to be analysed;

— Salt content: max. 2,5 % by weight;

— Fat content: max. 20 % by weight. The fat content is determined for the whole product, after removal of the bones. The product’s surface coating is homogenised into the sample to be analysed.

Organoleptic properties of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

— External appearance and colour: the side covered with skin is golden yellow. Other parts of the surface are not covered with skin and have a light-coloured covering of fat; the ham muscle meat is meaty pink;

— Appearance and colour in cross-section: the muscle meat is meaty pink when sliced;

— Taste and smell: distinctive taste and smell of cooked and smoked ham, appropriately salty taste;

— Consistency: firm and compact. The product is tender to the bite when thinly sliced.

Physical properties of boneless ‘pražská šunka’

— The product is typically of an oval or cylindrical shape;

— The ham is of the highest quality, produced from trimmed topside and silverside of pork leg and salted slices of pork fat, or from trimmed topside of pork leg and silverside of pork leg coated with fat and skin.

Chemical properties of boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

— Pure muscle protein content: min. 16 % by weight. The product’s decorative coating is not homogenised into the sample to be analysed;

— Salt content: max. 2,5 % by weight;

— Fat content: max. 15 % by weight. The product’s decorative coating is homogenised into the sample to be analysed.

Organoleptic properties of boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

— External appearance and colour: the side covered with fat and skin is golden yellow. If the surface is covered only with fat, without skin, the fat is of a pale colour;

— Appearance and colour in cross-section: the muscle meat is meaty pink when sliced;

— Taste and smell: distinctive taste and smell of cooked and smoked ham, appropriately salty taste;

— Consistency: firm and compact. The product is tender to the bite when thinly sliced.

Physical properties of tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

— The product is typically of a flat oval shape, its dimensions being those of its packaging, which are such as to ensure that the finished product it contains weighs about 0,454 kg;

— At the time of packing, the input weight of the raw materials is at least 87 % meat.

Chemical properties of tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

— Pure muscle protein content: min. 16 % by weight. The product’s aspic coating is not homogenised into the sample to be analysed;

— Salt content: max. 2,5 % by weight;

— Fat content: max. 4 % by weight. The product’s aspic coating is homogenised into the sample to be analysed;

— Aspic content: max. 35 % by weight.

Organoleptic properties of tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

— External appearance and colour: the product is enclosed in hermetically sealed packaging and maintains commercial sterility. There is a smooth golden-yellow layer of aspic between the packaging material and the product;

— Appearance and colour in cross-section: the ham is of a meaty-pink colour. Small, isolated holes filled with aspic are permitted;

— Taste and smell: distinctive taste and smell of cooked ham, appropriately salty taste;

— Consistency: firm and compact.

3.6. Description of the production method of the agricultural product or foodstuff to which the name under point (3.1) applies (Article 3(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

Whole pork legs (hams) prepared as specified in point (3.5) and brine prepared from the ingredients listed below are used to produce ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone.

The following are used to make 100 kg of the finished product:

— pork legs 100 kg

— brine (20 kg): water 16,2 kg dextrose 1,2 kg nitrite curing mix 2 kg stabilisers (E 450, E 451) 0,5 kg antioxidant (E 301) 0,1 kg

The hams are sprayed with brine of the prescribed composition. They are then left for 48 hours in 3 % brine, or the brine may be rubbed in. This is followed by cooking, during which a minimum heat effect corresponding to a temperature of 70 °C for 10 minutes must be attained in all parts of the product. After cooking, the products are surface-smoked, cooled and stored.

Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

Topside and silverside of pork leg (ham), prepared as specified in point (3.5), and brine prepared from the ingredients listed below are used to produce boneless ‘Pražská šunka’.

The oval or cylindrical packaging is made of materials that are suitable for pasteurisation.

The following are used to make 100 kg of the finished product:

— topside and silverside of pork leg (including fat and/or skin): 107 kg

— brine (20 kg): water 15,6 kg dextrose 1,2 kg nitrite curing mix 2,5 kg stabilisers (E 450, E 451) 0,5 kg antioxidant (E 301) 0,2 kg

— packaging (vacuum-shrinkable bags).

The topside and silverside of pork leg, whole or coarsely ground, is rubbed with brine. Brine is rubbed into salted slices of pork fat separately if these are used to make a decorative surface coating for the product. After the muscle meat has been brined in this way, it is placed into moulds of the prescribed shape which are lined with brined slices of pork fat. If topside of pork leg and silverside covered with fat and skin are used, these are placed skin down into moulds of the prescribed shape after brining. The product is then pasteurised in the moulds, during which a minimum heat effect corresponding to a temperature of 70 °C for 10 minutes must be attained in all parts of the product. After cooking, the products are removed from the moulds, smoked, cooled, packed in vacuum-shrinkable bags and stored.

Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

Trimmed sides of pork leg (ham), gelatine (powdered) and brine prepared from the ingredients listed below are used to produce tinned ‘Pražská šunka’. The flat, oval packaging is made of materials that are suitable for sterilisation.

The following are used to make 100 kg of the finished product:

— trimmed sides of pork leg 90 kg — powdered gelatine: 4,4 kg — brine (12,54 kg): water 10 kg sugar 0,24 kg nitrite curing mix 2,3 kg — packaging 220 pcs.

The sides of pork leg, whole or coarsely ground, are rubbed with brine. After the muscle meat has been brined in this way, it is placed into vacuum-packaging on the bottom of which is an appropriate quantity of powdered gelatine. After the packaging has been vacuum-sealed, the product is left to rest at a temperature of 5 °C for 12 hours. This is followed by sterilisation, during which a minimum heat effect corresponding to a temperature of 121 °C for 10 minutes must be attained in all parts of the product. After cooking, the product is cooled and stored dry at a temperature of 0-25 °C and a relative humidity of up to 85 %. It has a shelf-life of three years.

3.7. Specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff (Article 3(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone differs from other bone-in hams in particular in terms of the way in which the basic raw material is selected and processed. Another characteristic feature of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone is the pork leg to brine ratio during production, which makes it possible to achieve a pure muscle protein content in the finished product corresponding to the highest-quality category of ham. Moreover, the production process involves cooking followed by smoking, which also distinguishes ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone from a great many traditional dried bone-in hams.

Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ differs from other meat products of this category in particular in terms of its production method, as it is a ham of the highest quality produced from trimmed sides of pork leg that is smoked after being cooked. Another distinctive characteristic is the presence of a decorative surface coating, consisting of a thin layer of pork fat or fat and skin. The finished product’s typical oval, or cylindrical, shape is another distinguishing feature.

Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’ differs from other meat products of this category in particular in terms of the raw materials used, as it is a ham of the highest quality produced from trimmed sides of pork leg. Another characteristic feature of the product is the presence of a thin layer of aspic between the ham and the packaging. However, what distinguishes tinned ‘Pražská šunka’ from other tinned meats is the typical flat oval shape of its packaging.

3.8. Traditional character of the agricultural product or foodstuff (Article 3(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

The name ‘Pražská šunka’ has been used since the 1860s to denote one of the best-known food products originating in the Czech Republic, in particular Prague. Historical sources show a product called ‘Pražská šunka’ to be connected with the name of František Zvěřina, who first made it. Josef Jeřábek, a well-known Prague smoked-meats producer, took over the production of ‘Pražská šunka’ from František Zvěřina. Other makers of this product included the Prague smoked-meats producers Dlouhý, Malý, Cibulka and others. The production of ‘Pražská šunka’ also began in other large towns and cities, following the example of Prague. In Brno, it was made by the smoked-meats producer Jebavý, in Hradec Králové by the smoked-meats producer Hutla, and in Pardubice by the smoked-meats producer Sochor, and was made by many other smoked-meats producers by the end of the 19th century. Figuratively speaking, the ‘Pražská šunka’ made by Zvěřina was the ancestor of all the others.

Industrial-scale production of ‘Pražská šunka’ was started by Antonín Chmel, who established his firm at U Zvonařky in Prague in 1879. His main product was ‘Pražská šunka’, but he also produced a wide range of smoked-meat products which quickly gained a reputation in Prague and other towns, especially spa towns, further afield, and eventually in a number of European countries. However, his most commercially successful product was ‘Pražská šunka’, which soon even found its way onto markets overseas. After the Second World War, the firm was nationalised and a number of other production plants in Prague were gradually amalgamated with it. It was during this period that other variants of ‘Pražská šunka’ came into being in the form of semi-preserved or tinned ham made from pork-leg muscle meat. In 1977, the U Zvonařky plant and all of its employees and resources were absorbed into the newly built meat-industry combine Masokombinát Praha jih – Písnice. The advent of new curing technologies saw the introduction of brine-spraying, with or without subsequent rubbing, in the production of ‘Pražská šunka’. During post-1989 privatisation period, the meat-industry plant at Písnice closed down, but the production of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone continued at a number of other production facilities across the Czech Republic.

The basis for the production of ‘Pražská šunka’ originally lay in the selection of the raw materials and the method of curing. The raw materials used were pork legs (hams) from lightweight pigs, and the current recipe therefore specifies a maximum weight of 10 kg. Another distinguishing feature of the production process, which has been passed down from one generation to the next, is that the pork leg is given the ‘Prague cut’. Cooled pork legs were cured by rubbing the surface of the meat, in particular the skin, thoroughly with a nitrite curing mix containing a small amount of sugar. The bottom of the curing pot was lightly salted and the pork legs were placed skins down. Boiled and cooled nitrite brine, again containing a small amount of sugar, would be poured over the hams, which would then be weighted down. The hams were subsequently turned so that their underside was on top and their topside underneath. The hams were again weighted down. After sensory quality control, the hams would be soaked for several hours in lukewarm water and then left to dry. This was followed by the final process, namely the removal of the pelvic bone, the scraping of the surface of the skin and the binding of the shank so that its shape would not be damaged by cooking. The hams were always hung in a heated smokehouse. Smoking comprised two stages: firstly drying over a brightly burning fire, and secondly flavouring and colouring with the aid of moistened hardwood sawdust. The hams were usually smoked slowly for 8-12 hours. The hams would then be scalded in boiling water and cooked. They would then be cooled by soaking them in cold water.

Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ and tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

The period after the Second World War saw the development of alternatives to the original ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone. These took the form of pasteurised or sterilised boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ produced from pork-leg muscle meat, which in those days was packaged in tin cans. The technology used to produce these types of ‘Pražská šunka’ consisted in boning refrigerated fresh pork legs (hams), processing individual parts of them, sorting them according to their colour and mechanically and intermittently breaking up the raw materials whilst adding sodium chloride and the necessary amount of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, polyphosphate, sugar and, possibly, sodium ascorbate, all partially dissolved in a specific quantity of brine. A small slice of gelatine was placed inside the packaging when the product was packaged and the packaging was vacuum-sealed. This was followed by pasteurisation, or sterilisation, and refrigeration. Semi-preserved ‘Pražská šunka’ generally weighed 8, 10 or12 lbs. The tins used for this type of ham were mainly angular. However, 1 lb tins of ‘Pražská šunka’ were generally oval. The commercial success of the tinned ham was due to a very large extent to the proportion of aspic in the finished product.

From 1973 onwards, the production of pasteurised and sterilised ‘Pražská šunka’ was mainly concentrated at meat-industry plants at Brno, Kostelec, Studená, Vamberk and Planá nad Lužnicí. The production of these variants of ‘Pražská šunka’ was extended to other facilities across the Czech Republic after 1989, and tins were largely replaced by plastic packaging, which in the case of boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ made it possible to add a thin decorative layer of pork fat or pork fat and skin.

3.9. Minimum requirements and procedures to check the specific character (Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

— Compliance with the specifications regarding the preparation of the pork leg and the surface colour of the product in the case of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone. Compliance with specification regarding the shape of the product in the case of boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ and tinned ‘Pražská šunka’. Checking takes the form of visual inspections of the finished product.

— Compliance with specifications regarding the product’s appearance and colour in cross-section. Checking takes the form of visual inspections of the finished product.

— Compliance with the specifications regarding the product’s taste, smell, consistency and succulence. Checking takes the form of a sensory analysis of the finished product.

— Compliance with the specifications regarding the product’s physico-chemical parameters. Checking of the finished product is carried out by means of approved laboratory methods. When samples of tinned ‘Pražská šunka’ are being analysed, it is necessary to ensure that the temperature of the content of the product is maintained in the 4-7 °C range.

Checks by the authority or body verifying compliance with the product specification are conducted at least once a year at the plant of every producer.

4. Authorities or bodies verifying compliance with the product specification:

4.1. Name and address:

Authorities or bodies verifying compliance with the product specification in the Czech Republic:

Name: Státní zemědělská a potravinářská inspekce Address: Květná 15 603 00 Brno ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Tel. +420 543540111 E-mail: sekret.oklc@szpi.gov.cz

☒ public  private

Name: Státní veterinární správa České republiky Address: Slezská 7 120 00 Praha 2 ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Tel. +420 227010137 E-mail: hygi@svscr.cz

☒ public  private

4.2. Specific tasks of the authority or body:

The inspection authorities specified in (4.1) are responsible for monitoring the specification in its entirety.

(1) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.