Meloni's crusade against fake Italian cuisine on the global stage

The Italian farming and food production sector loses over £86 billion annually due to counterfeit Italian food products worldwide. Protecting products originating from Italy and fighting counterfeits is a collective effort involving producers, agricultural organizations, and politicians.

Under Giorgia Meloni’s leadership, promoting the "Made in Italy" brand has become a key government initiative. This shift is highlighted by the transformation of the Department for Economic Development into the Ministry for Enterprises and Made in Italy, as seen in previous administrations.

From the next academic year, the Ministry of Education will introduce a new "Made in Italy" curriculum for high schools to nurture specialists in promoting national food products. However, media reports indicate that enrollment figures for these programs are currently lower than anticipated.

A widespread food fraud practice known as "Italian sounding" involves marketing non-Italian products as Italian by using Italian names, imagery, or the flag on product labels, misleading consumers about their origin.

This issue has been on the authorities' radar for over a decade, and expert groups have been established to monitor and address the situation.

Cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano top the list of the most counterfeited products, surpassing the originals' counterfeit production volumes. Parma ham is another product frequently subjected to counterfeiting.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, desires to regulate Italian restaurants globally.

Lollobrigida criticizes establishments that claim to be Italian but use non-Italian products and chefs who fail to cook authentic Italian cuisine, becoming a source of mockery.

He advocates for creating guidelines to safeguard genuine Italian cuisine and its standards internationally. Such guidelines would involve setting specific criteria that restaurants must satisfy to be officially recognized as Italian.

In Parma, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region known as the capital of Italian, and arguably European, food, the promotion of local specialities is evident. Home to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which provides scientific advice on food safety to protect consumers, Parma thrives with family-run delicatessens and traditional restaurants dedicated to Italian culinary heritage.

Sensitizing people to culinary traditions is essential in combating counterfeit products and products that sound "Italian," according to Alice Andrei from the Cibus International Food Exhibition office, Italy’s most prominent food fair held in Parma. Highlighting the need to educate foreigners about choosing authentic Italian products is a priority.

This year, the Cibus Exhibition broke records. Around 3,000 Italian food producers showcased their goods across eight large pavilions, and over a thousand foreign buyers, including many from the United Kingdom, attended the event in unprecedented numbers.