In una Nota del 16 dicembre 2008 (prot. 35793) il Ministero del Lavoro, della Salute e delle Politiche Sociali ha chiarito che la dizione "Salsicha fresca", riportata nel testo della direttiva 2006/52/CE con lettere in corsivo ed in lingua originale del Paese di produzione, indica un prodotto alimentare non italiano e come tale non assimilabile alla salsiccia fresca prodotta in Italia.
Credo, pertanto, che non ci si debba far trarre in inganno dalla somiglianza tra i nomi, ma occorra soffermarsi sul processo produttivo e sulle caratteristiche chimico-fisiche e strutturali del prodotto in questione al fine di determinare in quale categoria alimentare vada inquadrato.
Avvalendoci dell'interessante Guida segnalata da apacchini, che riporta in prima pagina la dichiarazione di esclusione di responsabilità "Does not necessarily represent the official views of the Commission", esaminiamo:
- le due macrocategorie:
08.1 "Unprocessed meat" ("Carne non trasformata"):
'Unprocessed' as defined by Regulations (EC) No 853/2004, 852/2004 and 1333/2008; means not having undergone any treatment resulting in a substantial change in the original state of the foodstuffs. However, they may have been for example divided, parted, severed, boned, minced, skinned, pared, peeled, ground, cut, cleaned, trimmed, deep-frozen, frozen, chilled, milled or husked, packed or unpacked.
08.2 "Processed meat" ("Carne trasformata"):
Processed products resulting from the processing of meat or from the further processing of such processed products, so that the cut surface shows that the product no longer has the characteristics of fresh meat. Processing means any action that substantially alters the initial product, including heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extraction, extrusion or a combination of those processes.
- le due sottocategorie:
08.1.2 Meat preparations as defined by Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 ("Preparazioni di carni, quali definite dal regolamento (CE) n. 853/2004"):
Fresh meat, including meat that has been comminuted or minced, that has had foodstuffs, seasonings or additives added to it or that has undergone processes insufficient to modify the internal muscle fibre structure of the meat and thus to eliminate the characteristics of fresh meat.
Meat preparations can fall within the definition of "unprocessed products" or that of "processed products". For example, a meat preparation will fall within the definition of "processed products" if the actions mentioned in the definition of "processing" that are applied are insufficient to modify the internal muscle fibre completely through to the centre of the product muscle fibre structure of the meat and thus to eliminate the characteristics of fresh meat.
This category includes:
- fresh sausage
This category covers several treatment methods (e.g. curing, salting, smoking, drying, fermenting, marinating, pickling, maturing) that preserve and extend the shelf life of meats.
08.2.1 "Non-heat-treated processed meat" ("Carne trasformata non trattata termicamente"):
This category covers several treatment methods (e.g. curing, salting, smoking, drying, fermenting, marinating, pickling, maturing) that preserve and extend the shelf life of meats. Examples: cured and dried ham, fermented and dried sausages.
Giunti a questo punto, credo la domanda che ci dobbiamo porre ai fini dell'inquadramento sia più chiara: la salsiccia fresca è stata sottoposta ad un processo insufficiente a modificare la struttura delle fibre muscolari della carne e tale da eliminare le caratteristiche della carne fresca? Lascio a voi la risposta.
Buona notte!
Giulio