Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2) point (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
Date: 2016-05-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Czechia, Prague, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, meat product, pigmeat, preserved product, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_2016180EN.01000501.xml










19.5.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 180/5





Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2) point (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
(2016/C 180/05)
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).
PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF A TRADITIONAL SPECIALITY GUARANTEED

‘PRAŽSKÁ ŠUNKA’


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


CZECH REPUBLIC

1.   Name to be registered

‘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), ‘Praška šunka’ (HR), ‘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)
2.   Product type

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)
3.   Grounds for the registration

3.1.   Whether the product








—


☒


results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice for that product or foodstuff;




—


☐


is produced from raw materials or ingredients that are those traditionally used.




The traditional meat product ‘Pražská šunka’ is intended for direct consumption and has long been produced in the following variants:






—


‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone,










—


boneless ‘Pražská šunka’,










—


tinned ‘Pražská šunka’.




3.2.   Whether the name








—


☒


has been traditionally used to refer to the specific product;




—


☐


identifies the traditional character or specific character of the product.




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.
4.   Description

4.1.   Description of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including its main physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics showing the product’s specific character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

4.1.1.   ‘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 (ham) 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 and smoking, which also distinguishes ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone from a great many traditional dried bone-in hams.
Physical properties:






—


Product having an overall weight not exceeding 10 kg.










—


The original shape of the pork leg, cut in the Prague style (the flank and sacrum, including tail and pelvic bone, are removed from the whole bone-in leg, which includes the knuckle but not the trotter; the fatty part is rounded from the loin end), is maintained.




Chemical properties (parameters are established on the basis of samples analysed following the removal of bones from the product):






—


Pure muscle protein content (excluding connective tissue proteins and plant proteins): 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. 3 % by weight.










—


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




Organoleptic characteristics:






—


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 lighter covering of fat, ranging from yellowish to golden in colour, with the ham muscle meat being golden-brown to dark brown.










—


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










—


Taste and smell: a 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.




4.1.2.   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 boneless pork leg or sides of pork leg which are 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 egg-like or oval shape is another distinguishing feature.
Physical properties:






—


The product typically has an egg-like or oval shape.










—


The ham is of the highest quality, produced from whole boneless pork legs with fat cover with or without skin; or from trimmed sides of pork leg and salted slices of pork fat with or without skin; or trimmed sides of pork leg with fat cover with or without skin.




Chemical properties:






—


Pure muscle protein, salt and fat content: see chemical properties for ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone.




Organoleptic characteristics:






—


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 surface is in lighter shades from yellowish to gold.










—


Appearance and colour in cross-section, taste and smell, consistency: see organoleptic properties for ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone.




4.1.3.   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 which are either whole or coarsely ground. 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.
Physical properties:






—


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.










—


When placed into the packaging, meat accounts for at least 87 % of the raw material input weight.




Chemical properties:






—


Pure muscle protein content (excluding connective tissue proteins and plant proteins): min. 16 % by weight. The product’s aspic coating is not homogenised into the sample to be analysed.










—


Salt content: max. 3 % by weight.










—


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










—


Aspic content: max. 36 % by weight.




Organoleptic characteristics:






—


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.










—


Αppearance 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.




4.2.   Description of the production method of the product to which the name under point 1 applies that the producers must follow including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used, and the method by which the product is prepared (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

4.2.1.   ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone

Whole pork legs cut in the Prague style (the flank and sacrum, including tail and pelvic bone, are removed from the whole bone-in leg which includes the knuckle but not the trotter; the fatty part is rounded from the loin end) and brine prepared from the ingredients listed below are used to produce ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone.






Pork legs


100,0 kg




Brine (max. 20,0 kg):









—


Water


max. 17,0 kg




—


Nitrite or nitrate pickling curing mix


max. 2,6 kg




—


Sugars


0-1,2 kg




—


Stabilisers


0-0,5 kg




—


Spice extract or oil


0-0,3 kg




—


Antioxidants


0-0,1 kg








The pork legs are sprayed with brine of the prescribed composition. They are then left to rest in brine or may be massaged with brine. This is followed by cooking, which has the effect of pasteurisation. After being cooked, the products are dried in a smoking chamber and surface-smoked to achieve the characteristic taste, aroma and colour, and then cooled and stored.
Alternatively, if the pork legs are not salted by being injected with brine and then left to rest or massaged, chilled legs may be salted and worked by rubbing their surface thoroughly with a nitrate curing mix containing a small amount of sugar. They are then placed, skins down, into lightly salted curing pots. Boiled and cooled nitrate brine, again containing a small amount of sugar, is then poured over them. The hams are weighted down so that they are completely submerged in the brine and after an appropriate period of time, in the light of the results of continuous sensory quality checks, are turned over so that their underside is on top in the curing pot, and their topside is underneath. After being thoroughly salted, the hams are soaked for several hours in lukewarm water and then left to drip dry. The hams are first dried in a smoking chamber and then surface-smoked to achieve the characteristic taste, aroma and colour. This is followed by cooking, which has the effect of pasteurisation, and then cooling and storage.
Whichever of the two alternative methods is used, the final production stage may also be completed by baking the surface and treating the skin using various decorative techniques.
4.2.2.   Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ is produced using either whole boneless pork legs or individual sides of pork leg, prepared in accordance with point 4.1.2, and brine which, in terms of its composition and maximum permissible ratio to the meat raw material, is the same as the brine used in the production of ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone.
The boneless pork legs or sides of pork leg are sprayed with brine of the prescribed composition and/or may be massaged with brine. Salted slices of pork fat, with or without skin, are massaged separately if used to make a decorative surface coating for the product. After the raw materials have been salted and massaged, they are placed in oval or egg-shaped moulds in such a way that the fat, with or without skin, always provides the product with a decorative surface coating. If slices of pork fat, with or without skin, are used to create a decorative surface coating for the product, the moulds are lined with massaged slices of fat and only then filled with trimmed sides of pork leg. This is followed by cooking in the moulds, which has the effect of pasteurisation. After cooking, the products are removed from the moulds, smoked to achieve the characteristic taste, aroma and colour, and then cooled and packaged.
It is also possible to complete the final production stage by baking the surface and treating the skin using various decorative techniques.
Products produced using whole boneless pork legs with fat cover with or without skin, and where appropriate trimmed sides of pork leg with fat cover with or without skin, may before cooking be formed into the prescribed shape with the aid of film which is removed from the product post-cooking. In such cases, it is not necessary to use moulds.
4.2.3.   Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

Trimmed sides of pork leg (either whole or coarsely chopped), gelatine (powdered) and brine prepared from the ingredients listed below are used to produce tinned ‘Pražská šunka’.






Trimmed sides of pork leg


100,0 kg




Powdered gelatine


4,0 kg




Brine (max. 14,3 kg):









—


Water


max. 11,0 kg




—


Nitrite curing mix


max. 2,8 kg




—


Sugars


0-0,5 kg








Flat, oval packaging made from materials suitable for sterilisation and ensuring the weight of the content of the completed product (approx. 0,454 kg), is used.
The sides of pork leg, whole or coarsely ground, are massaged 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 achieved 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 at least three years.
4.3.   Description of the key elements establishing the product’s traditional character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

4.3.1.   ‘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 produced 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 it was being 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. Besides ‘Pražská šunka’, his flagship product, he also produced a wide range of smoked-meat products which quickly gained a reputation in Prague and other towns, especially spa towns, 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 massaging, in the production of ‘Pražská šunka’. During the 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 from lightweight pigs, which is also why the current recipe 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’. Chilled pork legs were cured by rubbing the surface of the meat, in particular the skin, thoroughly with a nitrate 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 refrigerated nitrate 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.
4.3.2.   Boneless ‘Pražská šunka’

The period before the Second World War saw the development of alternatives to the original ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone. These took the form, firstly, of pasteurised boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ produced from pork-leg muscle meat. It was produced by Antonín Chmel at U Zvonařky in Prague and by Josef Beránek at Beránkové podniky, his firm’s plant. The technology used to produce these types of ‘Pražská šunka’ consisted in boning refrigerated fresh pork legs, 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 sugar, all partially dissolved in a specific quantity of brine. This was followed by pasteurisation and refrigeration. After the Second World War, the production of pasteurised ‘Pražská šunka’ was mainly concentrated at meat-industry plants at Brno, Kostelec, Studená, Vamberk and Planá nad Lužnicí. The late 1970s saw an increase in production in these plants of boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ using moulds and the subsequent packaging of the end product in plastic containers, which on the one hand eliminated the use of cans but in particular meant that, after pasteurisation, the product could be smoked and made it possible to add a thin decorative layer of pork fat or pork fat and skin. The product and its parameters have therefore been brought significantly closer to the original ‘Pražská šunka’ on the bone. Since 1989, boneless ‘Pražská šunka’ has been produced at other sites across the entire Czech Republic.
4.3.3.   Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’

Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’ is another variant of the original ‘Pražská šunka’ which came into being after the end of the Second World War. It was also produced using sorted raw materials from the boning of chilled fresh pork legs, with the addition of nitrite curing mix, sugar and gelatine; in order to achieve a longer shelf life, it was sterilised in egg-shaped packaging at a weight of 1 lb. The commercial success of the tinned ham was due to a very large extent to the proportion of aspic in the finished product. Tinned ‘Pražská šunka’ has been produced since 1973, mainly by meat industry plants in Kostelec, Krahulčí and Studená. Since 1989, this variant has also been produced at other sites across the entire Czech Republic.


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.