A JUDGE has decreed that a supermarket seasoned pork product can be called Parma ham even though it comes from Corsham rather than Italy.
The European Court of Justice was asked to rule on whether Asda could call a product Parma ham, because it is bought in Italy, but sliced and packaged at the Hygrade factory in Wiltshire.
Last week the court gave Asda the go-ahead to carry on slicing its ham wherever it wanted.
The court rejected claims the supermarket chain was breaching European Union rules by selling Parma ham packaged in Corsham.
Asda buys its ham in Parma but some of it is packaged in Corsham.
Asda was taken to court by an Italian Parma ham trade association, which claimed under Italian law Parma ham could only be authentic if it is sliced and packaged in the Parma production region.
The advocate-general said Asda's ham does come from Parma and it is irrelevant under EU law where it is sliced and packaged.
The case has been running since 1997.
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