List of Italian PDO cheeses

This List of PDO Italian cheeses includes all the Italian cheeses which have (PDO) status under  regulations.

Prior to 1996 when the PDO system came into operation, many Italian cheeses were regulated under a Denominazione di Origine (DO) system, which arose out of the 1951 Stresa Conference and was established under the Italian law 125/54. These appellations of origin were recognized in a number of European countries with which Italy had bilateral agreements. (The international framework of recognition was further developed—and extended from cheese to include other agricultural products—by the Lisbon Convention of 1958, and the modifications made to it at Stockholm in 1967, and by the accord of 1994.)

All of the existing “DO” cheeses were registered by the EU as “PDO” cheeses during the course of 1996.

List
The following table indicates for each cheese the year in which it acquired DO status (where applicable), the year of PDO registration and the approximate area within which the regulations permit it to be produced.

Applications under consideration
Applications have been made for DOP status in the case of the following cheeses:
 * Salva Cremasco, a soft cheese made exclusively from raw, whole cows’ milk in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, and Milan. The application was made on 30 July 2007 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union in April 2011 with the rubric that ‘statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months of the date of this publication’.
 * Nostrano di Valle Trompia, a cows’ milk cheese, coloured with saffron, produced in the Valle Trompia region of the Province of Brescia The application was submitted on 22 September 2010.
 * Pecorino di Picinisco, a sheep’s milk cheese (with the optional inclusion of up to 25% goats’ milk), produced in the Valle di Comino region of the .  The application was submitted on 28 February 2011.
 * Squacquerone di Romagna, a cows’ milk cheese from the region of in the provinces of Ravenna, Forli-Cesena, Rimini and Bologna, and in part of the province of Ferrara. The application was submitted on 04 December 2009.

Key to acronyms

 * DO :Denominazione di Origine (Appellation of Origin)
 * DOP :Denominazione di Origine Protetta (PDO, or Protected Designation of Origin)
 * DPR :Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica (Presidential Decree)
 * DPCM :Decreto del Presidente del Consiglio (Prime-ministerial Decree)
 * PDO :Protected Designation of Origin