Pacitalia
09-02-2009, 08:27
From PNN.pc
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Sambuca, Pacitalia's infamous anise-flavoured liqueur, will become a
product with "protected denomination of origin" status effective Monday. The
Sambuca Quality Protection Act, 2009, cleared the Senatoro in a special
session Sunday. The move follows several illnesses and a handful of deaths
from the consumption of bootleg sambuca produced outside Pacitalia.
Sambuca to get PDO status after deaths, illnesses
Move makes the ubiquitous anise liqueur only the seventh protected Pacitalian product
Sanguina Rossonetra in Timiocato
Pacitalia's parliamentary institutions have responded to the "flare-up of avoidable death and illness" caused by tainted, bootleg liqueur "wrongly" labelled as sambuca.
A special session of the Senatoro passed the Sambuca Quality Protection Act, 2009 (7012 N92 A167.7 2/2009) on Sunday afternoon by a margin of 79—15 with one abstention and one absence. The bill cleared the Constazione on Friday afternoon and was scheduled for reading in the upper house on Tuesday, but three more deaths on Saturday spurred the archonate to convene Pacitalia's 96 senators.
The Republican Police Service and Republican Ports, Customs and Excise Authority cooperated in an investigation which traced, dating back to December, 38 deaths and over 1,000 cases of severe illness. Over 35,000 L of a 40-pabv liqueur labelled as "100% Real Sambuca", distilled by Allanean spirits producer Rhodesian Bottling and identified as the tainted liqueur, has now been pulled from the shelves and destroyed under orders of the Directorate of Public Health and Wellness.
Tests on the product showed high concentrations of ethylene glycol, most commonly used as an automotive anti-freezing agent. In extreme cases, some spirits manufacturers have been caught using ethylene glycol because its sweet taste acts as a flavour enhancer and masks impurities in an otherwise poor product.
Ethylene glycol is extremely toxic in sufficient quantities. The investigation showed that some bottles contained up to six percent ethylene glycol.
Timiocato is usually reluctant to designate any Pacitalian products with PDO status because it goes against the country's inherent free-trade practices. But even the most ardent economic liberals in either parliamentary house admitted the scope and spread of the illness, caused by products of low quality, necessitated protection of a "national symbol".
"Sambuca is distinctly Pacitalian," Dragomir Dobrogeanu, Pacitalia's agustinate of trade, industry and commerce said Sunday. "The country's own careful traditions of distilling and preparation for sambuca, the high standards manufacturers employ for both ingredients and process, are essentially being mocked by foreign producers, who employ none of the same standards and use shortcuts that have ultimately taken lives."
Under the act, the Protected Denomination of Origin status dictates that for a liqueur to be legally sambuca, it must meet the following criteria:
Must be produced, specifically distilled, in the aperture of Sambuca
All ingredients must be grown, manufactured or procured in Pacitalia
Must contain at least 75ml per litre of the essential oil of the anise plant
Must contain at least 5ml per litre of the essential oil of the cinnamon plant
Must contain by volume at least 50mg birch bark ash, but must contain no other impurities
Utilise a derivative of turbinado sugar as a sweetening agent
Must be triple-distilled to 38-43 percent alcohol by volume
Must be aged for at least six months at a temperature between 17°C and 19°C
The new act also forbids any domestic or foreign products that do not meet these criteria from labelling their product "Sambuca-style liqueur", "mock sambuca" or anything else that would lead consumers to believe the product is real sambuca.
Though over 98 percent of Pacitalian sambuca production is in the aperture of Sambuca itself, there are still several sambuca producers in Antigonia, Liguria and Baix-Empordà who have expressed concern that they will no longer be able to call their product "sambuca". But the Directorate of Agriculture, Food and Denomination has said exemptions can be granted if the producers meet all the other criteria listed.
Retailers have responded to the new PDO law by pulling any products from outside Pacitalia that are labelled as sambuca. However, most are refusing to credit any attempted customer returns of the tainted Allanean product, citing that the problem rests with the manufacturer. The Directorate of Public Health and Wellness is advising anyone with the tainted liqueur in their possession to dispose of it immediately.
Sambuca is just the seventh Pacitalian product, and the first in 15 years, to be awarded PDO status. The infamous Pacitalian sparkling wine asti spumante, known for its sharpness, has been a PDO product since 1979. The only non-food-and-drink Pacitalian PDO good, Empordian rack-stapled leather, was awarded its denomination one year later. Cabrano, a semi-hard goat cheese, and Sapuntoli blue cheese were both awarded PDO status in 1984. In 1994, Timiocato awarded PDO to Margheria's famous cured hams, jamón serrano and jamón bellota.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2638745380_68a17696b5.jpg
Sambuca, Pacitalia's infamous anise-flavoured liqueur, will become a
product with "protected denomination of origin" status effective Monday. The
Sambuca Quality Protection Act, 2009, cleared the Senatoro in a special
session Sunday. The move follows several illnesses and a handful of deaths
from the consumption of bootleg sambuca produced outside Pacitalia.
Sambuca to get PDO status after deaths, illnesses
Move makes the ubiquitous anise liqueur only the seventh protected Pacitalian product
Sanguina Rossonetra in Timiocato
Pacitalia's parliamentary institutions have responded to the "flare-up of avoidable death and illness" caused by tainted, bootleg liqueur "wrongly" labelled as sambuca.
A special session of the Senatoro passed the Sambuca Quality Protection Act, 2009 (7012 N92 A167.7 2/2009) on Sunday afternoon by a margin of 79—15 with one abstention and one absence. The bill cleared the Constazione on Friday afternoon and was scheduled for reading in the upper house on Tuesday, but three more deaths on Saturday spurred the archonate to convene Pacitalia's 96 senators.
The Republican Police Service and Republican Ports, Customs and Excise Authority cooperated in an investigation which traced, dating back to December, 38 deaths and over 1,000 cases of severe illness. Over 35,000 L of a 40-pabv liqueur labelled as "100% Real Sambuca", distilled by Allanean spirits producer Rhodesian Bottling and identified as the tainted liqueur, has now been pulled from the shelves and destroyed under orders of the Directorate of Public Health and Wellness.
Tests on the product showed high concentrations of ethylene glycol, most commonly used as an automotive anti-freezing agent. In extreme cases, some spirits manufacturers have been caught using ethylene glycol because its sweet taste acts as a flavour enhancer and masks impurities in an otherwise poor product.
Ethylene glycol is extremely toxic in sufficient quantities. The investigation showed that some bottles contained up to six percent ethylene glycol.
Timiocato is usually reluctant to designate any Pacitalian products with PDO status because it goes against the country's inherent free-trade practices. But even the most ardent economic liberals in either parliamentary house admitted the scope and spread of the illness, caused by products of low quality, necessitated protection of a "national symbol".
"Sambuca is distinctly Pacitalian," Dragomir Dobrogeanu, Pacitalia's agustinate of trade, industry and commerce said Sunday. "The country's own careful traditions of distilling and preparation for sambuca, the high standards manufacturers employ for both ingredients and process, are essentially being mocked by foreign producers, who employ none of the same standards and use shortcuts that have ultimately taken lives."
Under the act, the Protected Denomination of Origin status dictates that for a liqueur to be legally sambuca, it must meet the following criteria:
Must be produced, specifically distilled, in the aperture of Sambuca
All ingredients must be grown, manufactured or procured in Pacitalia
Must contain at least 75ml per litre of the essential oil of the anise plant
Must contain at least 5ml per litre of the essential oil of the cinnamon plant
Must contain by volume at least 50mg birch bark ash, but must contain no other impurities
Utilise a derivative of turbinado sugar as a sweetening agent
Must be triple-distilled to 38-43 percent alcohol by volume
Must be aged for at least six months at a temperature between 17°C and 19°C
The new act also forbids any domestic or foreign products that do not meet these criteria from labelling their product "Sambuca-style liqueur", "mock sambuca" or anything else that would lead consumers to believe the product is real sambuca.
Though over 98 percent of Pacitalian sambuca production is in the aperture of Sambuca itself, there are still several sambuca producers in Antigonia, Liguria and Baix-Empordà who have expressed concern that they will no longer be able to call their product "sambuca". But the Directorate of Agriculture, Food and Denomination has said exemptions can be granted if the producers meet all the other criteria listed.
Retailers have responded to the new PDO law by pulling any products from outside Pacitalia that are labelled as sambuca. However, most are refusing to credit any attempted customer returns of the tainted Allanean product, citing that the problem rests with the manufacturer. The Directorate of Public Health and Wellness is advising anyone with the tainted liqueur in their possession to dispose of it immediately.
Sambuca is just the seventh Pacitalian product, and the first in 15 years, to be awarded PDO status. The infamous Pacitalian sparkling wine asti spumante, known for its sharpness, has been a PDO product since 1979. The only non-food-and-drink Pacitalian PDO good, Empordian rack-stapled leather, was awarded its denomination one year later. Cabrano, a semi-hard goat cheese, and Sapuntoli blue cheese were both awarded PDO status in 1984. In 1994, Timiocato awarded PDO to Margheria's famous cured hams, jamón serrano and jamón bellota.