Cumberland Sausage - Protected Geographical Status

Protected Geographical Status

There was a campaign by some Cumbrian butchers and meat manufacturers to have Cumberland sausage placed under a Protected Geographical Status classification under European Commission rules. This would provide the same protection as is afforded to Parma ham and Feta cheese. The association suggested that the criteria for the sausages should include a high meat content of more than 80%, the sausage to be coiled, not linked, a wider diameter than conventional sausages, and a rough-cut texture. It says the sausage should be prepared in Cumbria. While individual butchers have their own recipes, they are generally more highly seasoned than traditional sausages, possibly due to the historical import of spices at Whitehaven.

There was, however, opposition to the campaign in its present form, which essentially calls for the modification of the proposition to reduce the region of the proposed protection from the Post 1974 'administrative' County of Cumbria - which incorporates Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire 'north of the Sands' but without abolishing the original counties - to the Traditional County of Cumberland, on native grounds, with provisions including the native right for natives to continue to manufacture the sausage elsewhere.

In March 2011, Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status was granted to the name "Traditional Cumberland sausage". To display the PGI mark, the sausage must be produced, processed and prepared in Cumbria and have a meat content of at least 80%. It must include seasoning and be sold in a long coil.