Yet another law is on its way, and this one aims to regulate jamón serrano.
The law will categorise the different types and quality of pork, jamones, paletas & cañas de lomo del cerdo ibérico based on the breed of the pig, it’s food and handling, and the treatment the meat receives before sale.
There will be four colour codes that are attached to the meat at the factory in such a way that it cannot be manipulated later.
The codes:
Black Maximum quality. 100% Iberian pork fed on acorns, corresponding to the pata negra classification of “black foot”.
Red Iberian pigs which have been cross bred with Duroc pigs, but which are still fed on acorns.
Green Iberian field pigs (note the difference!) which have grown up outside, or on intensive outdoor farms.
White battery produced pig meat. Pigs in a confined area fed on factory feed.
Jamón which isn’t Iberian won’t be classified under this system. So if you buy a jamón without a colour code, it’s a common or garden pig that could have come from anywhere.
The point of the law is to distinguish the very high class of “Iberian” pure or mixed breed pigs and to classify them by quality. The Chinese / Portuguese crap you get in Mercadona will stay the same.
Oh, the law should be in force by the end of the Spring, just has to be approved now. Final draft has now been sent for approval and voting before being published, but everyone seems happy with it.