Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2022/C 370/08)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) within three months from the date of this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’

EU No: PDO-IS-2636 – 28/09/2020

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1. Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’

2. Member State or Third Country

Iceland

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.1 Fresh meat (and offal)

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

‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ is the name given to the meat from pure bred Icelandic lambs, which have been born, raised and slaughtered in the island of Iceland in North Atlantic Ocean. Dressed carcass weighs 15-17 kg at 4-6 months when all lambs are slaughtered. The meat is dark red, tender with gamey flavor. The lamb may be marketed as a whole carcass or primal cuts (forequarter, rack, fillet, leg, chops, shanks etc.), fresh or frozen.

The principal distinctive characteristics of ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ are:

— Flavour: gamey.

— Percentage of stress impaired meat: 1-2 % with over 5,8 % ph 24.

— Little toughness and tender back muscles.

— The proportion of omega-3 fatty acids in phospholipids: 16 %.

— The amount of muscle that does not contain phospholipids: 1 % of the weight of the muscle.

— High amount of iron and B-vitamins, see table below. Cut Edible % Kcal Protein g/100 g Fat g/100 g Vitamin B-1 mg/100 g Vitamin B-2 mg/100 g Iron mg/100 g Zinc mg/100 g Forequarter 76 283 15,1 25,1 0,2 0,3 1 3 Rack 78 335 15,8 30,6 0,1 0,2 1 2 Fillet 100 142 21,5 6,2 0,2 0,3 2 2 Leg 64 174 19,2 10,9 0,2 0,3 2 3 Chops 69 315 16,6 28 0,1 0,3 2 2 Shanks 76 171 17,9 11,1 0,2 0,3 2 3

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The lamb grazes on cultivated grassland or rangeland from spring until fall. Newborn lambs most commonly feed on cultivated grassland until wild pastures are considered fit for grazing. The majority of sheep are put onto wild rangeland two to four weeks after the lambing season. Wild pastures that are used for summer grazing in Iceland are either located on land belonging to farms or on rangeland. Therefore, all feed is entirely sourced from the geographical area.

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

All steps must take place in the identified geographical area.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

—

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

The Icelandic Lamb Marketing Board provides common promotional material, using the following collective mark: ‘Icelandic Lamb Roaming Free Since 874’.

Both logo and promotional materials are optional.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area is the island of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean.

5. Link with the geographical area

Sheep farming has a long and rich cultural tradition in Iceland. Many believe that without sheep Iceland would have been uninhabitable to settlers many centuries ago. Sheep sustained the nation: their meat fed generation upon generation and their wool and hides sheltered them from the cold. One of the best examples of traditional Icelandic cooking is lamb meat soup, which was formerly served on Sundays or as a special treat but is now considered everyday fare. Iceland’s culinary heritage is interwoven with sheep farming and sheep and lamb products.

The factors that have effect in relation to the growth and health of sheep is the nutritional value of food, ability to eat and utilization of food. The long tradition of sheep farming passing down generations on the island has led to high standards of flock management and grazing methods.

Icelandic farmers keep winter-fed adult sheep indoors in the winter due to weather conditions. They are fed on hay that farmers collect during the summer. The lambing season begins between late April and early May and lasts until early June. The lamb grazes on cultivated grassland or rangeland from spring until fall. Newborn lambs mos commonly feed on cultivated grassland, until wild pastures are considered fit for grazing. The majority of sheep are put onto wild rangeland two to four weeks after the lambing season. Wild pastures that are used for summer grazing in Iceland are either located on land belonging to farms or on rangeland. Therefore, all feed is entirely sourced from the geographical area.

Rangeland has been used for pasturing livestock since the settlement of Iceland. Most such land is located in the mid-highlands, primarily because lambs that feed there generally have a faster growth rate. Although wild pastures used for summer grazing generally vary greatly in Iceland, highland vegetation is usually richest in protein, and this is one of the factors that contribute to the accelerated growth rate. The growth rate of lambs in lowland areas is therefore generally slower than that of lambs that roam in highland areas, picking the newly sprouted vegetation, particularly in early summer and midsummer, but their growth rates even out by the end of August.

In early September, the growth rate of lambs in wild pastures begins to slacken. If they have not reached a size suitable for slaughtering by that time, their potential for growth can be enhanced by placing them in cultivated areas, i.e. cultivated meadows or green fodder areas, for about two to six weeks. In such cases the lambs always have access to other, supplementary grazing areas. This arrangement aims to achieve desired carcass weight in the fall, and to promote better quantile classification in slaughterhouses.

Farmers gather sheep from the wild rangelands and pastures in the autumn in a process that can take up to a week, depending on geographical locations and is a tradition as old as settlement in Iceland. Ever since the age of settlement, farmers in each district have joined forces to round up sheep from rangeland and privately-owned land into a communal pen. Once they have been gathered, the sheep are sorted and each flock brought home by its owner or their representative.

Lambs mostly graze in more fertile areas, grassland and moors and rest in more rugged areas. The vegetation consists of low plants and there are relatively few tree species. The lambs’ selection of plants changes with the seasons, according to the ripeness of the plants, the Icelandic sheep mostly seeks out plants such as sea pea, stone bramble, garden angelica, dwarf fireweed and roseroot. Examples of grass varieties, sedges (cyperaceae) and ferns (pteridophytes) that are much sought after by sheep are alpine hair-grass, browntop, creeping bent grass, alpine bluegrass, red fescue and heath wood-rush. Among the flowering plants popular with grazing sheep are alpine bartsia, arctic meadow-rue, wood cranesbill, moss campion, sea thrift, northern bedstraw, northern dock, yellow marsh saxifrage and others. Icelandic trees and bushes that sheep like to feed on in the summer are, for example, mountain-ash, broad-leaved willow, wooly willow and tea-leaved willow. Nutritious wild pastures and hay reduce the need for fodder, and the diversity of vegetation available for grazing is extensive. Iceland’s cold climate reduces the need to use pesticides in food production in the same amounts as in many other countries. These factors are of great importance in the production of ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’.

The findings of the European project on lamb, FAIR CT96-1768 (OVAX) Identifying and changing the qualities and composition of meat from different European sheep types which meets regional consumer expectations, included a comparison of the Icelandic production method for lamb with production methods in five other European countries. ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ was considered to be the most tender by the representatives of all participating countries. This was also confirmed by measurements of the physical characteristics of the meat that was examined. Age at slaughter and the quantity and heat solubility of collagen accounted for part of this difference. In addition, it was considered that a difference in muscle fiber between stocks was a factor. The findings also indicated that the principal distinctive characteristics of ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ were:

— Gamey flavor.

— Low percentage of stress impaired meat (1-2 % with over 5,8 % ph 24).

— Little toughness and tender back muscles.

— Higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids. The proportion of omega-3 fatty acids in phospholipids in the muscles of Icelandic lambs has been measured at 16 % and the amount of muscle that does not contain phospholipids is 1 % of the weight of the muscle.

— High amount of iron and B-vitamins.

The characteristics of ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ first and foremost consists of a high degree of tenderness and gamey taste. The palatability of ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ is traced to the fact that lambs roam freely in demarcated wild rangelands and grow in the wild, natural surroundings of Iceland, where they feed on grass and other plants.

In a comparison study between lamb from six European countries, England, Iceland, Spain, France, Italy and Greece it was found that ‘Íslenskt lambakjöt’ is richer than the other types of lamb, in terms of the amount and percentage of omega-3 fatty acids.

This can be traced to the fatty acid composition of the fodder and grazing vegetation that has an effect on the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids in both the fat layers and the muscles of the lambs. The Iceland’s climate is one of the factors behind the high percentage of fatty acids. Iceland straddles the Arctic and subarctic regions. In lowland areas in the south and southeast, and in certain inland areas in the northern and eastern parts of the country, it has a subarctic climate, where the temperature averages around and above 10 °C in July, and above –3 °C in January. The country’s highlands, and most other lowland areas, experience an arctic climate, with average July temperatures below 10 °C and average January temperatures below –3 °C. Annual precipitation in lowland areas is between 400-2 000 mm. Iceland has the largest glaciers located outside of the polar regions, and in some places outlet glaciers extend into lowland areas. Low pollution levels, clean air and an abundance of living space impact Iceland’s conditions for sheep farming, as do low pollution of rangeland, good treatment and living conditions. The grass they feed on is rich in the omega-3 livolenic acid and vitamin E. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that Icelandic lambs do not experience stress before or during slaughter, which ensures very low acidity levels in the meat.

Reference to publication of the specification

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.