France recognizes five new food AOCs
The INAO, France’s national institute for appellations of controlled origin, announced on March 27th, 2006 the creation of five new AOCs for food products.
The products that will benefit from the label are:
-“Fin Gras” beef, raised near Puy en Velay , just west of the Rhône river valley
- “Ardèche” chestnuts, grown in the Ardèche administrative department in the Rhône valley
- “Roussillon” early potatoes from Pyrénées Orientales region
- “Solliès” figs, cultivated in the Var administrative department in Southeast France
- “Baie du Mont St Michel” mussels, the first seafood product to be granted an AOC
As French food—and wine, of course—struggle to compete in the global market, it is reassuring to see that the INAO continues its efforts to protect and promote local food varieties.
