An application to get protected EU status for Newmarket sausages is back on track following a five-year delay.
Newmarket butcher Musks originally sought Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, which is also held by Melton Mowbray pies and Stilton cheese, in 2005. But the application hit a wall when rival butcher Powters refused to divulge its recipe and agree a common one for 'Newmarket Sausage.'
However, last Friday both butchers submitted a formal first-stage application to register the name as a PGI. The move comes after the two companies formed the Newmarket Sausage Association last year and agreed a common specification, without divulging details of their individual recipes.
The application states that the sausage must be produced in Newmarket or the surrounding area, contain a minimum of 70% meat content (including fat) and up to a maximum of 3%, in total, of white and black pepper, salt, thyme, parsley and nutmeg. At the time of the original application, Powters was reported to have said: "The only thing they have in common is that they are pork sausages made in Newmarket. It would be like merging two wines you just wouldn't."
Musks' logo still carries the claim 'the original Newmarket sausage'. And Powters' website still claims: "The origin of the Newmarket Sausage dates back to 1880 when Grant Powter's great grandfather set up his first butchers shop in Wellington Street."
An application for Lincolnshire Pork Sausage is currently subject to the national objection procedure and Traditional Cumberland Sausage has cleared EC examination.
Defra through retained consultants ADAS is now consulting interested parties in the UK ahead of deciding whether to forward the Newmarket sausage application to the EC. Respondees have until 28 April to comment or object.
If the application is successful both companies' Newmarket sausage brands will remain separate.
Newmarket butcher Musks originally sought Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, which is also held by Melton Mowbray pies and Stilton cheese, in 2005. But the application hit a wall when rival butcher Powters refused to divulge its recipe and agree a common one for 'Newmarket Sausage.'
However, last Friday both butchers submitted a formal first-stage application to register the name as a PGI. The move comes after the two companies formed the Newmarket Sausage Association last year and agreed a common specification, without divulging details of their individual recipes.
The application states that the sausage must be produced in Newmarket or the surrounding area, contain a minimum of 70% meat content (including fat) and up to a maximum of 3%, in total, of white and black pepper, salt, thyme, parsley and nutmeg. At the time of the original application, Powters was reported to have said: "The only thing they have in common is that they are pork sausages made in Newmarket. It would be like merging two wines you just wouldn't."
Musks' logo still carries the claim 'the original Newmarket sausage'. And Powters' website still claims: "The origin of the Newmarket Sausage dates back to 1880 when Grant Powter's great grandfather set up his first butchers shop in Wellington Street."
An application for Lincolnshire Pork Sausage is currently subject to the national objection procedure and Traditional Cumberland Sausage has cleared EC examination.
Defra through retained consultants ADAS is now consulting interested parties in the UK ahead of deciding whether to forward the Newmarket sausage application to the EC. Respondees have until 28 April to comment or object.
If the application is successful both companies' Newmarket sausage brands will remain separate.
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