For many centuries Bologna has been famous for its cured meats, but only one has become so famous that it is known throughout the world as the name of the city that made it: mortadella, known by everyone as Bologna.
The commercial importance of mortadella in the Bologna area was so strategic that back in 1661, the Cardinal Legate who governed the city on behalf of Pope Alexander VII issued the first known piece of legislation in Italy to protect and safeguard a food product.
It was a proclamation that established a precise system of control over the processing of mortadella and its places of production, to protect the good name of this delicacy that was already said to be ancient at the time.
Fines and penalties were also established for those who produced mortadella without authorisation.
There are no other traces in Italy of similar older documents protecting a food recipe and its place of production, and so mortadella became, in 1661, the first protected food in history.
