"Telemea de Sibiu" Romania’s new Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)
The European Commission approved on 16 October 2019 the request to register "Telemea de Sibiu" (Sibiu cheese) as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). With its new status, this cheese product joins over 1 450 food products already present in the register of EU-protected products (DOOR - https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/list.html). It is the seventh Romanian food product with denomination of origin, alongside "Magiun de prune Topoloveni" – PGI (2011), "Salam de Sibiu" - PGI (2016), "Novac afumat din Ţara Bârsei" -PGI (2017), "Scrumbie de Dunăre afumată" – PGI (2018), "Cârnaţi de Pleşcoi" (2019) and "Telemea de Ibăneşti" - PDO (2016).
"Telemea de Sibiu" is a semi-hard cheese made entirely raw sheep's milk and prepared by shepherds living in the Sibiu (Romania) region for centuries. The fresh Sibiu cheese has a sweet taste, but at the same time is slightly salty and becomes more intense when the cheese ripens. It can be found on the market as a fresh product or matured for a period of at least 21 days. The sheep milk used to produce Sibiu cheese comes from animals raised in the Sibiu geographical area that are fed mainly on pastures. The association of producers of "Telemea de Sibiu" comprises ten legal entities located in the delimited geographical area. Their aim is to protect the "Telemea de Sibiu" original and traditional recipe and to offer consumers natural and healthy products.
Every year, a large number of festivals and popular celebrations related to sheep breeding and cheese production are organised by locals to celebrate the emblematic product of the Sibiu region.
Sources:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52019XC0617(01)&from=FR
https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/list.html
https://ec.europa.eu/romania/news/20191016_Telemea_Sibiu_produs_indicatie_geografica_protejata_UE_ro
