EN Official Journal of the European Union C 35/9

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

2010/C 35/09

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

‘HALBERSTÄDTER WÜRSTCHEN’

EC No: DE-PGI-0005-0615-02.07.2007

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Halberstädter Würstchen’

2. Member State or third country:

Germany

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 point 1 applies:

‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ is a long, thin boiling sausage in tender natural skin (sheep's casing), sold only as a preserved product.

Characteristic features are the dark smoked colour and the unmistakable, intensive smoky taste and beechwood aroma. These are obtained by smoking the sausage in several phases in a chimney smoking plant with an underfloor smouldering furnace, whilst changing the humidity and density of the smoke using brief temperature peaks of up to 110 °C. Controlling the smoulder smoke temperatures produces colours and aromas which are the key to the taste and dark colour of the ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’.

— Thickness: 20-24 mm

— Length: 12-18 cm

— Weight: 50-90 g

— Composition of the sausage:

— pork: approx. 45 %

— beef/veal: approx. 15 %

— bacon: approx. 15 %

— natural skin (sheep's casing): approx. 1,5 %

— drinking water: approx. 18 %

— nitrite pickling salt: approx. 2 %

— spices (particularly white pepper and flower of nutmeg): approx. 1,5 %

— additives: approx. 2 %

— fat content: 20 % (± 5 %)

— meat albumin free of connective tissue protein: at least 7,5 %.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only):

—

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

—

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

All the manufacturing stages, including pre-conditioning, drying, smoking, boiling, maturing and preservation take place in the identified geographical area.

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

—

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

—

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The area of the town of Halberstadt.

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

Production of ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ takes place in the restricted geographical area of the town of Halberstadt. The product has a 100-year-old tradition and its good reputation was built up by the company Friedrich Heine and its successors, who only produced in the area of the town of Halberstadt.

A special smoking process in a chimney smoking plant with an underfloor smouldering furnace, as used in the indicated area, is the requirement for the product characteristics of the ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’, which has been produced using the traditional method for more than 100 years.

The chimney smoking plant is made of masonry firestone which is particularly important for the heat technology requirements of the plant. It also has the important characteristic of absorbing the negative constituents of the smoke through the inner wall of the plant, thereby preventing these constituents from reaching the sausage to be smoked and enabling only the taste-forming substances to develop on the inside and outside of the sausage.

Hot smoking lasts for 40 to 50 minutes at an average smoking temperature of 60 to 75 °C. Direct firing of the chimney allows the temperature in the smoking chamber of the chimney smoking plant to be regulated so that alternating brief temperature peaks above 110 °C occur and a continual reduction in humidity takes place in accordance with the changes in temperature. The production and transmission of smoke takes place in a single area and a carbonizing process occurs.

A beechwood cuttings — sawdust mix in a ratio of 70 to 30 percent mass with a humidity of 52 % is used to produce smoke. This is essential for conducting the smoking process at a temperature which ensures that sufficient quantities of all the necessary desirable smoke constituents are produced and precipitate on the surface of the skin. Controlling the smoulder smoke temperatures produces colours and aromas which are the key to the taste and dark colour of the ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’.

The direct smoking process takes place in several phases which are characterised by different smoking times and different temperatures for the chimney smoke, and temperature ranges and temperature peaks of 75 to 80 °C, 85 to 90 °C, 95 to 100 °C and above 110 °C are obtained.

The craftsman's skill of the smoking expert ensures that various temperatures are produced during the smoking process and that these temperature ranges are maintained for set periods of time. The temperatures and various temperature ranges are obtained by creating smouldering nests in the hearth of the chimney smoking plant. This is where the smoking expert uses his craftsman’s skill to control both the firing process and the process of achieving the smoking temperatures by creating smouldering nests or tearing them open in order to obtain the required temperature ranges. These actions require an underfloor smouldering furnace, as it is an essential prerequisite for the intricate smoking process for the product to be produced. This process is also the result of the manually controlled temperatures during smoking, as during the smoking process there are changes in, and a continual reduction of the humidity and density of smoke in the chimney, which is important for the creation of the product to be produced.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ is characterised in particular by its unmistakable, intensive smoky taste and dark colour, which distinguish it from similar products of other origins.

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):

The specific product characteristics described under 5.2 are the result of the special traditional smoking process carried out in the chimney smoking plant described under 5.1.

These chimney fumes are unique and the smoking processes carried out in the chimney can essentially be distinguished from the smoking processes used in modern hot smoking plants.

The reduction of the relative humidity to < 25 % is, in addition to the stability of the sausage meat contained in the product, the reason why the sausages to be processed are able to withstand the extremely high heat without being damaged.

During the wet phases, the constituents of the smoke are basically absorbed, whilst during the dry, hot phases in particular the various smoke contents react with each other and with the constituents of the natural skin and the sausage meat inside it.

The traditional, typical seasoning and special processing of these products give the unmistakable taste and the particular appearance of the product. In addition to the traditional recipes and seasonings used, the traditional smoking process is the key to the unmistakable taste of ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ and the temperature control used when producing the chimney smoke, which is achieved by the smoking expert using his craftsman’s skill, is the main prerequisite for attributing the typical taste and particular external colour of the sausage sheath.

The particular appearance of the ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ is based on a tradition of sausage production in Halberstadt which dates back over 100 years.

‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ were produced for the first time on 23 November 1883 by the Halberstadt master butcher Friedrich Heine. A year later, he opened a factory in Halberstadt. In 1896, Friedrich Heine gained public recognition for his products at a cookery show and in 1896 these sausages were preserved in tins for the first time and exhibited at the cookery exhibition in Wiesbaden as a worldwide innovation. In 1913, Friedrich Heine set up a new company in Halberstadt which at that time was the most modern and largest sausage factory in Europe at that time.

At the beginning of the last century, virtually all station restaurants had ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ on their menus. The same was true of the Mitropa dining cars of ‘Reichsbahn’ trains which also offered preserved ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’. Today several tonnes of ‘Halberstädter Würstchen’ are still produced each day in traditional factories in Halberstadt.

Reference to publication of the specification:

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)

The product specification and the granting decision of the German Patent and Trade Mark office was published in the German Markenblatt, Vol. 25 of 22 August 2007 — Part 7b.