AOPs and some others

The European Union and France have various designations for food and drinks that either garantee that they are produced in a certain area, include certain ingredients, or are produced in a certain manner.

Appellation d'origine contrôlée: AOC Within France, this is used for a product closely associated with a certain area, but which has yet to earn the EU-wide AOP label.

Appellation d’origine protégée: AOP or PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), which according to EU law:

identifies a product that originates in a specific place, region or country, the quality or characteristics of which are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment with its inherent natural factors (raw materials, environmental characteristics, location) and human factors (traditional and craft production) and the production, transformation and elaboration phases of which all take place in the defined geographical area, in respect of rigid production regulations established in the procedural guidelines of production.