The initiative is part of Coldiretti's "Christmas Battle: Choose Italy" campaign to support farmers fight against piracy of food because it is causing unfair competition, according to Coldiretti president Roberto Moncalvo, who is also spearheading the campaign.

According to Mr Moncalvo, "Currently in Italy, two out of three hams come from pigs raised in the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain without this being clearly shown in the label."

He said that consumers are being deceived, and this is harmful to Italian farmers because they are committed to complying with strict production rules in order to produce high quality meat.