A seal that is unique in its category
In the European Union there are thousands of products with Protected Designation of Origin. Wines, cheeses, sausages, oils. But only one is from the sea and comes from Spain: the PDO Mejillón de Galicia.
When the Consejo Regulador del Mejillón de Galicia achieved European recognition in 2007, it became the first seafood product in Europe to obtain a Protected Designation of Origin. And to this day it remains the only seafood PDO in Spain.
Why does it matter? Because it means that it is the only mussel in the world whose authenticity is guaranteed by European food quality legislation.
What exactly is a PDO?
A Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a European Union legal figure that protects products whose characteristics are linked to a specific territory and traditional processing methods.
For a product to bear the PDO seal, it must meet three requirements:
- Its origin is limited to a defined territory.
- Its quality is essentially due to this territory.
- All production phases are carried out within this zone.
Let’s think of other examples: Champagne has to come from Champagne. Parmigiano Reggiano has to be produced in a specific area of Italy. The logic of Galician mussels is identical: its territory is the Rías Baixas, its method is the batea, its species is Mytilus galloprovincialis.
The road to 2007
Recognition did not come overnight. In 1994 the Regulatory Council of the Galician Mussel was established. One of its first achievements was to obtain the “Galician Quality Product” label, the first Galician seafood product to do so.
In 2000, the first Regulation of the appellation of origin was approved. Finally, in 2007 came the definitive European recognition: registration in the Register of Protected Designations of Origin of the European Union.
Today, the regulations governing the PDO are published annually in the Diario Oficial de Galicia, and establish all the technical and control requirements.
What exactly does the seal guarantee?
Protected species: Only Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819).
Cultivation system: Batea, according to the specifications of the Xunta de Galicia.
Production area: Exclusively the four Rías Baixas (Muros-Noia, Arousa, Pontevedra and Vigo).
Purification: To access the fresh market, the mussels must pass through a purification center using seawater from the Galician estuaries themselves. This ensures that even the final processing stage does not leave the defined geographical environment.
Full traceability: All operations, from seed collection to final product processing, are carried out within the defined geographical area.
Independent certification: Control activities are channeled through an independent Certification Committee.
The seal on canned food
If you buy a can of pickled mussels, does it carry the PDO seal? It can. Products made from Mejillón de Galicia PDO -even after a transformation or canning process- can show on their label the mention “Made with Mejillón de Galicia PDO”, as long as the Regulatory Council has authorized the manufacturer.
That is to say: a can with this mention is a guarantee that the mussel of origin is PDO, even if the canned product is already a processed product.
How to verify that a mussel is really PDO
Three clues for the consumer:
The PDO logo must appear clearly on the label. It is the official logo of the European Union for protected geographical indications.
The full name “Mejillón de Galicia DOP” must appear in an identifiable manner.
The producing company must be registered in the records of the Regulatory Council. You can check this at mexillondegalicia.org.
If a can says “Galician mussel” but does not include the PDO seal, it is not PDO. It is not fraud, but it belongs to another regulatory category. The difference is that “Galician mussels” without PDO are not subject to the same auditing system or the same level of traceability.
Bongarth and the PDO
At Bongarth we exclusively use mussels with Protected Designation of Origin Mejillón de Galicia. Because we believe it is the only mussel whose origin and quality are backed by a verifiable European guarantee.
