If all goes according to plan, anyone eating the meal by the middle of next year will know it meets a whole series of criteria which are designed to ensure its quality.

Members of the Cumberland Sausage Association (CSA) believe the move for European recognition will allow the county’s producers to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage.

Chairman Austen Davies said: “This should be the end of the road for the usurpers and pretenders who have demeaned and devalued the product in pursuit of profit.”

Food from Britain, a government-backed marketing organisation, has launched an appeal to producers of local ‘signature foods’ to apply for European Union recognition.

To date, only 35 British foods have been awarded such status in the EU. That figure compares badly with France which has 161, including Camembert and various fine meats, and Italy, which boasts 155 of its choicest foods. They include Parma ham and Amalfi lemons.

The items so far on the British list include Cornish clotted cream, Whitstable oysters and Stilton cheese – now traditional Cumberland sausage may join that list.

Source: The Cumberland News