List of United Kingdom food and drink products with protected status facts for kids

Jersey Royal potatoes were one of the first product names indicating the UK or the Crown dependencies to receive protected status, after it was registered as a PDO in 1996.

Meat from the Gloucester Old Spot (under the name 'Traditionally farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots pork') is one of four UK products holding TSG status

Imagine your favorite food, like a special cheese or a tasty sausage. What if someone else tried to make it and call it the same name, even if it wasn't made in the same way or place? That's where "protected status" comes in!

Many food and drink products from the United Kingdom and its Crown dependencies have a special "protected status". This means their names are legally protected. It stops other people from using the same name for products that aren't made in the right way or place. This helps customers know they are getting the real deal. It also helps protect traditional ways of making food.

There are different types of protected status:

• Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)
• Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)
• Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG)

The UK and the Crown dependencies have 94 products with protected status. This is fewer than countries like France or Italy, but more than many others. Most products have PGI or PDO status. Only a few are TSG. This article lists all these special products.

How Products Get Protected Status

Rules When the UK Was Part of the EU (Until 2021)

The idea of protected status started in the European Union (EU) in 1993. The UK was part of the EU then. These rules helped make sure products were made correctly.

There were three main types of protection:

• Protected Designation of Origin (PDO): This is for products that are produced, processed, and prepared in a specific area. They must use a special, often old, method. Think of it like a product that can only come from one specific place.
• Protected Geographical Indication (PGI): This covers products where at least one step (like production, processing, or preparation) happens in a specific area. It's a bit less strict than PDO.
• Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG): This protects products that have a "traditional character" or "customary names". These products don't need to be linked to a specific area. But they must have been made the same way for at least 30 years.

Rules Under UK Law (Since 2021)

PDO, PGI and TSG logo applicable in England, Wales and Scotland

After the UK left the EU (called Brexit), it created its own system. This new system applies in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Products that had protected status under EU law before 2021 kept their status under UK law. But new products applying for protection in the UK are not automatically protected in the EU. They would need to apply separately to the EU.

Rules Under EU Law in Northern Ireland (Since 2021)

EU PDO, PGI and TSG logo (in various languages) applicable in Northern Ireland

Because of a special agreement, Northern Ireland still follows the EU's rules for protected status. This means new products protected by EU law are automatically protected in Northern Ireland. Also, products made in Northern Ireland must use the EU logos, not the UK ones.

Products with Protected Status

Here's a list of products that have special protected status. The year shows when they first got their protection.

Fresh Meat (and Offal)

Meat Products (Cooked, Salted, Smoked, etc.)

Cheeses

Other Animal Products (Eggs, Honey, Dairy)

Fruit, Vegetables, and Cereals (Fresh or Processed)

Fresh Fish, Shellfish, and Products Made from Them

Other Products (Spices, Drinks, etc.)

Beers

Bread, Pastry, Cakes, and Biscuits

Salt

Wool

Wines

Spirit Drinks

Products That Used to Have Protected Status

Sometimes, products lose their protected status. Here are a few examples:

Products by Country

This list groups the protected products by the country or Crown Dependency they come from.

Country (or Crown Dependency)	No. of products	List
England	47	Lakeland Herdwick, Traditionally farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots pork, West Country lamb, West Country beef, Melton Mowbray pork pie, Newmarket sausage, New Forest pannage ham, Cumberland sausage, Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese, Buxton Blue, Dorset Blue Cheese, Dovedale cheese, Exmoor blue cheese, Staffordshire cheese, Swaledale Ewes cheese, Swaledale cheese, Stilton white cheese, Stilton blue cheese, Single Gloucester, Teviotdale cheese, Yorkshire Wensleydale, Cornish clotted cream, Fenland celery, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb, Cornish sardines, Fal oyster, traditional Grimsby smoked fish, Whitstable oysters, East Kent goldings, Gloucestershire cider, Gloucestershire perry, Herefordshire cider, Herefordshire perry, Worcestershire cider, Worcestershire perry, Kentish ale, Kentish strong ale, Rutland bitter, Cornish pasty, English, English regional, Somerset cider brandy, Sussex, London Cure smoked salmon, Darnibole, Vale of Evesham asparagus, West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese.
Isle of Man	2	Isle of Man Manx Loaghtan lamb, Isle of Man queenies
Jersey	1	Jersey royal potatoes
Northern Ireland	8	Armagh bramley apples, Irish Cream, Irish Poteen/Irish Poitín, Irish whiskey/uisce beatha Eireannach/Irish whisky, new season Comber potatoes/Comber Earlies, Lough Neagh eel, Lough Neagh Pollan, Traditional Bramley Apple Pie Filling
Scotland	16	Ayrshire New Potatoes / Ayrshire Earlies, Orkney beef, Orkney lamb, Scotch beef, Scotch lamb, Shetland lamb, Stornoway black pudding, Bonchester cheese, Orkney Scottish island cheddar, Arbroath smokie, Scottish farmed salmon, Scottish wild salmon, Ayrshire Earlies/Ayrshire Early Potatoes, Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop, Scotch whisky, native Shetland wool
Wales	19	Cambrian Mountains Lamb, Carmarthen Ham, Conwy mussels, Gower Salt Marsh Lamb, Pembrokeshire early potatoes/Pembrokeshire earlies, Single Malt Welsh Whisky/Wisgi Cymreig Brag Sengl, The Vale of Clwyd Denbigh Plum, Traditional Welsh Caerphilly / Traditional Welsh Caerffili, Traditional Welsh cider, Traditional Welsh perry, Welsh beef, Welsh lamb, Traditionally Reared Pedigree Welsh Pork, Welsh Laverbread, West Wales coracle caught salmon, West Wales coracle caught sewin, Anglesey sea salt/Halen Môn, Welsh, Welsh Regional
UK-wide	1	Watercress

See also

• Agriculture in the United Kingdom
• English cuisine
• Northern Irish cuisine
• Scottish cuisine
• Welsh cuisine
• Cornish cuisine
• Wine from the United Kingdom
• List of Republic of Ireland food and drink products with protected status