Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 2020/C 186/04
Date: 2020-06-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, consumer information, cows’ milk cheese, designation of origin, labelling, product designation, quality control of agricultural products, semi-soft cheese








C_2020186EN.01001901.xml










5.6.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 186/19






Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012
(2020/C 186/04)
The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).
The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.
SINGLE DOCUMENT
‘TOMME DE SAVOIE’

EU No: PGI-FR-0177-AM03 – 10.1.2020


PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name(s)

‘Tomme de Savoie’
2.   Member State or Third Country

France
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.3. Cheeses
3.2.   Description of the product to which the name in 1 applies

‘Tomme de Savoie’ is a pressed, uncooked cheese made from raw or thermised cow’s milk. The minimum ripening period is 30 days between the renneting date and the date the cheeses leave the ripening cellars.
It comes in the form of a flat cylinder and measures 18 cm to 21 cm in diameter and 5 cm to 8 cm in height. It weighs between 1,2 kg and 2 kg. It can also come in a smaller format, but with the same organoleptic properties. In this case, its maximum height is 8 cm and its weight may be between 400 g and 900 g.
The rind is smooth to slightly uneven, of a grey to whitish-grey colour. Secondary mould may develop on the rind.
The paste is semi-hard, white to yellow in colour, with small openings. Its taste is clean and slightly salty, sometimes with a touch of acidity and a touch of sharpness.
The cheese has a minimum fat content of 9 % of the total weight and a minimum dry matter content of 45 %.
The salt content is between 1,2 % and 2 %.
‘Tomme de Savoie’ is sold in the following formats: whole, cut into portions or slices, or in pre-packaged consumer sales units (portions or slices).
3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The different types of authorised feed are:






—


coarse fodder (grass, first and second-cut hay, green maize, sorghum, straw, catch crops);










—


corn cob and wet-grain maize, permitted only between 1 October and 1 May;










—


dehydrated fodder, dehydrated lucerne, dehydrated beet pulp, fodder beet, which must be clean and sound;










—


the following supplementary feed and additives:






—


cereal grains and their derivatives (bran, middlings, flour, dehydrated brewers’ grains); the cereal grains may be preserved by inerting;










—


seeds and oilseed and protein cakes;










—


by-products: lucerne protein concentrate, non-protein nitrogen (by-products of starch or yeast production), urea < 3 % in supplementary feed;










—


molasses and vegetable oil, minerals, vitamins, trace elements and natural plant extracts;










—


lactoserum produced on the holding, which must be used within 24 hours.








For lactating cows:






—


all coarse fodder used must come from the geographical area;










—


dehydrated fodder, corn cob, wet-grain maize and fodder beet from outside the geographical area is limited to 4 kg of dry matter per lactating cow as a daily average over the year.




These restrictions ensure that most of the dry matter consumed by the dairy cows comes from the defined geographical area. They therefore strengthen the link between the product and its geographical origin.
In the case of farm-based production, the milk used to produce ‘Tomme de Savoie’ must come from a herd of dairy cows at least 75 % of which are of the Abondance, Montbéliarde or Tarentaise breed.
At the processing plant, the milk collected for producing ‘Tomme de Savoie’ must come from dairy cows at least 75 % of which are of the Abondance, Montbéliarde or Tarentaise breed.
The reason for maintaining the tradition of farming the traditional Abondance, Montbéliarde and Tarentaise breeds is that they have demonstrated their ability to adapt to the physical and climatic constraints of the environment. They are physically adapted to grazing on sloping pastures, tolerant to heat and well suited to grazing in summer and to eating dry fodder in winter.
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The milk production, processing and ripening stages take place in the geographical area.
Production of the milk to be used to make ‘Tomme de Savoie’ in the geographical area is justified by the fact that the region has abundant fodder resources, which are used in cheese production.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product to which the registered name refers

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

The labelling of cheeses bearing the protected geographical indication ‘Tomme de Savoie’ must comply with the following requirements:






—


The name ‘Tomme de Savoie’ must appear on all packaging, with the European Union’s PGI logo in the same visual field.










—


The name and address of the manufacturer or ripener or packager must be indicated.










—


The name of the certifying body must be specified.










—


The geographical origin of any cheese marketed under the geographical indication must be indicated, in the format defined by the group, on one side or on the edge. This requirement does not apply to cheeses marketed directly to the consumer by a farm producer or cheesemaker.










—


In addition, for cheeses made using small moulds, the word ‘petite’ (small) may appear on the label, invoices and sales documents, but not adjacent to or immediately above the name ‘Tomme de Savoie’.




4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area covers the whole of the two departments of Savoie and Haute Savoie and the following municipalities in the departments of Ain and Isère.
Department of Ain: Anglefort, Béon, Billiat, Ceyzérieu, Chanay, Corbonod, Cressin-Rochefort, Culoz, Flaxieu, Injoux-Génissiat, Lavours, Léaz, Massignieu-de-Rives, Parves-et-Nattages, Pollieu, Saint-Martin-de-Bavel, Seyssel, Surjoux-Lhôpital, Talissieu, Valserhône, Villes, Virignin, Vongnes.
Department of Isère: Entre-deux-Guiers, Miribel-les-Échelles, Saint-Christophe-sur-Guiers, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, Saint-Pierre d’Entremont.
5.   Link with the geographical area

The link between ‘Tomme de Savoie’ and its area of origin is founded on its specific quality.
The natural environment of the ‘Tomme de Savoie’ area has a wide range of soil substrates and a homogeneous mountain climate.
In terms of its topography and geology, the ‘Tomme de Savoie’ geographical area is quite diverse. The area lies mainly at an altitude of between 200 m and 2 500 m, with characteristic soil types from both old crystalline and limestone massifs.
The climate is typical of mountain areas: the winters are long and sometimes harsh and the summers hot. With the exception of the Maurienne and Tarentaise valleys, where there is generally less rain, the annual rainfall is high, with an average of 1 000 mm and up to 1 500 mm at the base of the pre-Alpine mountain ranges. Precipitation occurs throughout the year.
The combination of deep soils and high rainfall distributed over the year means that the geographical area is distinguished and characterised by high-quality grassland (pasture and meadows with rich and diverse flora).
In the foreland, cereal and maize production is also well developed.
As regards human factors, ‘Tomme de Savoie’ is the oldest of the Savoie cheeses. ‘Tomme de Savoie’ has long been a cheese intended for domestic consumption. It was an essential source of protein in the peasants’ diet.
The quantity of milk available depended very much on the other uses made of it, in particular as a source of fat, which was in high demand. The peasants of the province of Savoie would use whatever milk was left to make this cheese.
Just as the fat content of ‘Tomme de Savoie’ varied depending on the degree of skimming, different farm producers made ‘Tomme de Savoie’ cheeses of different sizes.
‘Tomme de Savoie’ was originally produced domestically before production was extended to certain cheese-making dairies.
The production of milk to be used to make ‘Tomme de Savoie’ still draws on the abundance of grass in the geographical area but also on the continued tradition of farming the traditional Abondance, Montbéliarde and Tarentaise breeds. These breeds have demonstrated their ability to adapt to the physical and climatic constraints of the environment. They are physically adapted to grazing on sloping pastures, tolerant to heat and well suited to grazing in summer and to eating dry fodder in winter. The dairy cows’ feed is based on the use of fodder and cereals produced mainly in the geographical area.
In these mountain areas, specific cheese-making expertise has been developed that is adapted to the environment. The techniques used are adapted to the characteristics of the milk, and the cheesemakers take particular care to control a number of points such as inoculation, management of the mesophilic and thermophilic flora and ripening.
These techniques are the result of shared expertise in a region where there has long been a culture of producing pressed cheeses.
Ripening the cheese on wooden boards in cellars allows the paste to develop properly and also enables the development of surface flora, in particular mucor. ‘Tomme de Savoie’ cheeses are turned over at least once a week while they ripen and the ‘hairs’ are removed at the same time.
‘Tomme de Savoie’ is a pressed, uncooked cheese made from raw or thermised cow’s milk.
‘Tomme de Savoie’ is characterised by its relatively small, flat cylindrical shape, its smooth to slightly uneven, grey to whitish-grey rind, and its clean and slightly salty taste, sometimes with a touch of acidity and a touch of sharpness.
The fact that the geographical area produces sufficient quantities of coarse fodder and cereals to meet milk production needs, while maintaining extensive production systems, ensures that the animals have a varied diet.
The systems for farming the dairy herds promote the use of the wide variety of local fodder resources available in the geographical area. Production of the milk in the geographical area means that optimum use can be made of grazing resources, as has been done for generations, and the milk can be obtained from traditional breeds. Local breeds are preferred, since they now account for over 90 % of the total livestock population. These breeds, which are well suited to the climate and mountain topography, are able to meet their full production potential despite sometimes difficult conditions. Through their milk, the diversity of the flora they consume is reflected in the cheese.
This milk, produced in large quantities owing to a specific diet, is better suited to the production of ‘Tomme de Savoie’ than that of other breeds raised in the same conditions. It is a particular property of the milk that the curd obtained after renneting is firmer and the cheese yield higher.
A number of studies have highlighted the importance of diet and the composition of fodder for the quality of milk (e.g. Bugaud C., Buchin S., Hauwuy A., Coulon J.B., 2002. Texture et flaveur du fromage selon la nature du pâturage: cas du fromage d’Abondance [Texture and flavour of cheese according to pasture type: the case of cheese from the Abondance breed], INRA Prod. Anim., GIS AlpesJura; Dorioz J.M., Fleury P., Coulon J.B., Martin B., 2000. La composante milieu physique dans l’effet terroir pour la production fromagère: quelques réflexions à partir du cas des fromages des Alpes du Nord [The physical environment as a factor in the impact of ‘terroir’ on cheese production: a discussion relating to cheeses from the Northern Alps], Courrier de l’environnement, GIS AlpesJura; or Lucas A., Hulin S., Michel V., Agabriel C., Chamba J.F., Rock E., Coulon J.B., 2006. Relations entre les conditions de production du lait et les teneurs en composés d’intérêt nutritionnel dans le fromage: étude en conditions réelles de production [Relationship between milk production conditions and nutritional constituent content in cheese: a study under actual production conditions], INRA Prod. Anim., GIS AlpesJura). The last of these studies, which related to ‘Tomme de Savoie’, highlights the significant effect of feed on the fat-soluble micronutrient content of cheeses. It also shows that the fatty acid profile of the milk, and by extension of the cheese, is linked primarily to the basic ration of the cows’ feed.
The fact that the milk used for production is raw or thermised ensures the presence of natural flora, which are protected as a result of the prompt initiation of the production process. This diverse flora is in part what gives ‘Tomme de Savoie’ its particular characteristics.
The use of raw or thermised milk allows the initial characteristics of the milk to be preserved, in particular those imparted by the cows’ feed, the diversity of which is one of the features of the geographical area.
Just as the fat content of ‘Tomme de Savoie’ varied depending on the degree of skimming, the different farm producers made ‘Tomme de Savoie’ cheeses of different sizes. The quantity of milk available depended very much on the other uses made of it, in particular as a source of fat, which was in high demand. The peasants would use whatever milk was left to make this cheese.
To stay true to the product’s traditional characteristics, the cheesemakers use a pressing technique to produce cheeses that, although different in size, are all fairly small compared to other cheeses from the region and have varying fat contents.
Production practices have led to the selection of the appropriate flora for production. Its use enables current producers to develop the characteristic taste of the cheese. The ripening process develops this flavour further.
The surface flora, consisting mainly of mucor, gives ‘Tomme de Savoie’ its characteristic grey appearance. The ripening of the cheese on wooden boards helps the surface flora to develop. The care taken when turning the cheese during ripening also helps to form the rind that is so characteristic of ‘Tomme de Savoie’, in particular by removing the mucor ‘hairs’.

Publication reference of the product specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of the Regulation)
https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-f5bec304-85e4-4ca2-b956-c784993548e1


(1)  OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.