Buying cured meat
The larder
The finished product, arranged by what it physically is rather than by where it is registered. A whole muscle salted and hung for a year and a mince fermented and dried for six weeks are different foods that happen to share a counter, and almost every word on this page covers both unless something in law stops it.
That is the useful thing this page can tell you. For most of these names the United States defines nothing at all, so the word on the front of the pack is a marketing term and the regulated statements are on the back. For a smaller set there is a protected designation: a filed specification fixing the area, the raw material and the method, checked by a control body. Those are listed first, under their own names, because that is the only version of one of these words that is a claim rather than a description.
Every listing on this page is a paid Amazon link and each one says so in its own frame. The equipment a published parameter requires is on equipment, and the cures, cultures and casings are on supplies. This page is kept apart from both because buying a finished product and making one are not the same activity, and only one of them puts the reader in charge of a control parameter.
What buying a finished product is not
This page states no hazard control figure and carries no process advice, deliberately. Everything on it was made under inspection to a process somebody else validated, which is the one situation on this site where the lethality treatment, the drying schedule and the ingoing limits are not the reader's problem. The parameters are on the hazard pages and the calculators, which carry no commercial link of any kind and never will.
Where the protected name itself can be bought
9 listings on Amazon carry a name from the EU register in the seller's own title. That is a designation claim rather than a style description, and it is the strongest thing this site can put in front of a reader: a name that means a specification was filed, an area was defined and a control body signed it off. Each links to its register entry here as well as to the listing.
This site runs one search per registered name and attaches nothing unless the seller makes the claim themselves. There is no substitute and no closest match. What a title cannot prove is certification, so read the packaging for the EU designation mark and the control body number before treating the words as the legal claim they refer to.
Finocchiona PGI
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Italy, registered 23/04/2015. A geographical indication requires at least one stage of production, processing or preparation to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Finocchiona
Affiliate link
Finocchiona Salami, 5 oz, Premium Italian Dry Cured Salami with Fennel
- Lowest new
- $15.00
- Brand
- crait
- ASIN
- B0H7C6476N
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Finocchiona is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Guijuelo PDO
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Spain, registered 21/06/1996. A designation of origin is the stricter of the two schemes: every stage of production has to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Guijuelo
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $475.19
- Brand
- LOS IBERICOS DE PUEBLO COUNTRYSIDE IBERICOS M MARCOS SALAMANCA DESDE 1965
- ASIN
- B09KT1HL7C
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Guijuelo is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Gyulai kolbász / Gyulai pároskolbász PGI
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Hungary, registered 19/06/2010. A geographical indication requires at least one stage of production, processing or preparation to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Gyulai kolbász / Gyulai pároskolbász
Affiliate link
Bende Original Hungarian Brand Smoked Sausage Gyulai Kolbász 5 Pack
- Lowest new
- $47.80
- Brand
- Bende
- ASIN
- B00ALH4QVQ
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Gyulai kolbász / Gyulai pároskolbász is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Los Pedroches PDO
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Spain, registered 03/09/2010. A designation of origin is the stricter of the two schemes: every stage of production has to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Los Pedroches
Affiliate link
Acorn-Fed 100% Ibérico Pork Ham Alta Expresion D.O.P Los Pedroches AX by COVAP (18 lb approx)
- Lowest new
- $1,475.00
- Brand
- COVAP
- ASIN
- B0C3WGHRWR
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Los Pedroches is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Prosciutto di Parma PDO
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Italy, registered 21/06/1996. A designation of origin is the stricter of the two schemes: every stage of production has to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Prosciutto di Parma
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $284.00
- Brand
- MARTELLI DAL 1959
- ASIN
- B0CMXVPVJG
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Prosciutto di Parma is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Prosciutto di San Daniele PDO
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Italy, registered 21/06/1996. A designation of origin is the stricter of the two schemes: every stage of production has to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Prosciutto di San Daniele
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $465.00
- Brand
- Alma Gourmet
- ASIN
- B004BH4YLY
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Prosciutto di San Daniele is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salchichón de Vic / Llonganissa de Vic PGI
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Spain, registered 29/12/2001. A geographical indication requires at least one stage of production, processing or preparation to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Salchichón de Vic / Llonganissa de Vic
Affiliate link
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Salchichón de Vic / Llonganissa de Vic is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salsiccia di Calabria PDO
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Italy, registered 21/01/1998. A designation of origin is the stricter of the two schemes: every stage of production has to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Salsiccia di Calabria
Affiliate link
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Salsiccia di Calabria is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Speck Alto Adige / Südtiroler Markenspeck / Südtiroler Speck PGI
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Italy, registered 21/06/1996. A geographical indication requires at least one stage of production, processing or preparation to happen inside the defined area. What this name fixes.
Speck Alto Adige / Südtiroler Markenspeck / Südtiroler Speck
Affiliate link
Italian Speck Alto Adige IGP - Chub (1.5 pound)
- Lowest new
- $89.99
- Brand
- Recla
- ASIN
- B000C06FXE
What the seller is claiming. The protected name Speck Alto Adige / Südtiroler Markenspeck / Südtiroler Speck is in the seller's own title. A title is a claim and not a certificate: the EU designation mark and the control body number are on the packaging, and they are what settle it.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Dry-cured whole muscle
One piece of muscle, salted and then dried in air for months. Nothing is minced and nothing is cooked, so what you are buying is time: the water left slowly and the salt concentrated as it went. This is the family the great protected names sit in, and the one where the word on the front of the pack is most often doing work the law never asked it to do.
Prosciutto
Prosciutto is simply the Italian word for ham, and on its own it is a description rather than a claim. What carries the claim is the protected name after it: Parma, San Daniele, Toscano, Modena, Veneto Berico-Euganeo, Carpegna. Each of those is a designation of origin, which is the stricter of the two EU schemes and requires every stage of production to happen inside the defined area.
What to read on the label. Look for the protected name and the EU designation mark, not for the word prosciutto, which any dry ham may use.
9 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Prosciutto
Affiliate link
Ferrarini Prosciutto di Parma DOP - Authentic Italian Cured Ham, Sliced 1 lb (4 x 4 oz Packs)
- Lowest new
- $62.00
- Brand
- Ferrarini
- ASIN
- B0FJSHDZR8
This one carries a protected name. Prosciutto di Parma is in the seller's own title, which is a designation claim rather than a style description. Where a product carrying a registered name can be found, this site links it in preference to a generic one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Jamon
The Spanish hams split along two axes that get confused with each other. One is the protected name, which fixes the place: Teruel, Guijuelo, Dehesa de Extremadura, Jabugo, Los Pedroches, Trevelez. The other is the breed and feeding of the pig, which is a separate Spanish quality standard and is where iberico and bellota sit. A ham can carry one and not the other.
What to read on the label. The protected name tells you where. The iberico and bellota wording tells you what the animal was and ate. They are different statements and both belong on the label.
7 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Jamon
Affiliate link
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 7 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Coppa
Dry-cured pork neck muscle, sold as coppa in the north of Italy and as capocollo further south. Coppa Piacentina and Capocollo di Calabria are separate protected names for what is anatomically the same muscle treated differently, which is a useful reminder that these designations protect a method and a place rather than a cut.
What to read on the label. Coppa and capocollo are the same muscle. The protected name, where there is one, is the part that constrains the method.
3 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Coppa
Affiliate link
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 3 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Capocollo
The southern Italian name for the dry-cured neck. It is also one of the products named in the withdrawn 9 CFR 318.10 list of items that required a prescribed trichinae treatment, alongside coppa, which is the closest the United States ever came to defining it.
What to read on the label. A US-made capocollo is made under federal or state inspection to a process the plant validated. The word itself carries no compositional guarantee here.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Capocollo
Affiliate link
Italian Style HOT Capicola/Capocollo "Copa" Thin Sliced 1Lb
- Lowest new
- $35.95
- Brand
- Generic
- ASIN
- B0FQX9KQJ2
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 1 registered name in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Guanciale
Cured pork jowl, and the one item on this list that is usually bought to be cooked rather than eaten as it is. That changes what matters about it: fat structure and cure level, rather than the ready-to-eat handling that governs a sliced product.
What to read on the label. Sold as a cooking ingredient. Check whether the label says ready to eat, because the two are handled differently.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Guanciale
Affiliate link
Alma Gourmet Guanciale, Italian Dry-Cured Pork Jowl, Approx. 6 oz (170 g) - Pack of 1
- Lowest new
- $34.95
- Brand
- Alma Gourmet
- ASIN
- B09JHBJHT1
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Pancetta
Cured pork belly, rolled or flat. Pancetta Piacentina and Pancetta di Calabria are protected; the general word is not. The distinction that matters commercially is between a pancetta dried to be sliced and eaten and one cured to be cooked, which the same word covers.
What to read on the label. Rolled or flat, and ready to eat or for cooking. Those two facts are what change how it is used, and both should be on the label.
3 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Pancetta
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $129.95
- Brand
- MARTELLI DAL 1959
- ASIN
- B0DFWRS5YC
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 3 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Speck
A dry-cured ham that is also lightly cold smoked, which is unusual: most protected dry hams are not smoked at all. Speck Alto Adige is the protected name, and the specification covers both the cure and the smoke, which is what separates it from a ham that has been smoked as an afterthought.
What to read on the label. Alto Adige is the protected name. Speck elsewhere in Europe can mean plain cured fat, which is a different product entirely.
3 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Speck
Affiliate link
This one carries a protected name. Speck Alto Adige / Südtiroler Markenspeck / Südtiroler Speck is in the seller's own title, which is a designation claim rather than a style description. Where a product carrying a registered name can be found, this site links it in preference to a generic one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Presunto
The Portuguese dry-cured ham, and the country with the second-largest holding of protected meat names in the register after Italy. Presunto de Barrancos, Presunto do Alentejo and Presunto de Santana da Serra are all designations of origin, several of them made from the black Alentejano pig.
What to read on the label. Portugal protects these by region. Presunto without a region is a description of a technique.
7 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Presunto
Affiliate link
No single listing cleared this site's matching checks, so this is a tagged search rather than a recommendation. Nothing is being put forward as the right one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Terms.
Jambon sec
The French dry ham. Jambon de Bayonne is the protected name most often seen outside France, and its specification covers the salt as well as the pig: the salt has to come from the Adour basin, which is the kind of clause that makes a designation of origin different from a quality mark.
What to read on the label. Bayonne is the protected name. Jambon sec is the category.
11 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Jambon sec
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $213.11
- Brand
- Fabrique Delices
- ASIN
- B0GZ83V6R5
This one carries a protected name. Jambon de Bayonne is in the seller's own title, which is a designation claim rather than a style description. Where a product carrying a registered name can be found, this site links it in preference to a generic one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Country ham
The American dry-cured ham, and the one product in this list that the United States does define: 9 CFR 319.106 sets out what country ham is, including the requirement that it lose at least 18 percent of its fresh uncured weight. That figure is a legal minimum for this named product and is one of the three numbers this site is most often asked for.
What to read on the label. Country ham is a defined term in US law. The weight-loss requirement is part of the definition, not a claim by the maker.
No protected name in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Country ham
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $23.97
- Brand
- Generic
- ASIN
- B0GSV18KM9
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Culatello
The inner muscle of the ham, boned and cased, and the most restricted product in the Italian register: Culatello di Zibello is a designation of origin confined to a handful of communes in the Po valley fog. The real thing is genuinely scarce, and the word appears on plenty of products that are not it.
What to read on the label. Zibello is the protected name. Culatello alone is a cut.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Culatello
Affiliate link
No single listing cleared this site's matching checks, so this is a tagged search rather than a recommendation. Nothing is being put forward as the right one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Terms.
Cured pork loin
Whole dry-cured loin, sold as lomo embuchado in Spain and as lonza or lonzino in Italy. It is the leanest of the dry-cured whole muscles, which means it dries fastest and case-hardens most easily.
What to read on the label. Lomo, lonza and lonzino are the same cut under different names.
3 protected names in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Cured pork loin
Affiliate link
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 3 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Cured pork shoulder
The front leg rather than the back one, sold in Spain as paleta. It is smaller than a jamon, cures faster and is usually cheaper for the same designation, which is why several Spanish protected names cover the jamon and the paleta separately.
What to read on the label. Paleta is the shoulder. Where a protected name covers both, the paleta is named separately in the register.
No protected name in the EU register / 2 US standards of identity / the reference page
Cured pork shoulder
Affiliate link
100% Iberico Grass-Fed Boneless Pork Shoulder Ham (Paleta) - AX by Covap | Premium Spanish Iberico
- Lowest new
- $315.99
- Brand
- COVAP
- ASIN
- B0B3S8S8DZ
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Smoked ham
Cured and smoked rather than air-dried, and the family the German protected names sit in: Schwarzwaelder Schinken and Ammerlaender Schinken are both smoked. Smoking is a preservation step and a flavour step at once, and which of the two it is depends entirely on the temperature it happens at.
What to read on the label. Cold smoked and raw, or hot smoked and cooked. Those are different products sold under the same words.
11 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Smoked ham
Affiliate link
Hillshire Farm Ultra Thin Sliced Black Forest Ham Deli Meat, 9 oz
- Lowest new
- $3.97
- Brand
- HILLSHIRE FARM
- ASIN
- B00NKSWW8M
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 11 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salt pork
The oldest preserved pork in the American larder and the plainest: pork belly or fatback packed in salt, with no nitrite, no smoke and no drying to a water activity target. It is a cooking ingredient rather than a ready-to-eat product, and that is a regulatory distinction rather than a culinary preference.
What to read on the label. Must be cooked. Salt pork is preserved against spoilage, not made safe to eat as it is.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Salt pork
Affiliate link
J Bar B Foods Salt Pork 12 Oz (4 Pack)
- Lowest new
- $59.99
- Brand
- J Bar B Foods
- ASIN
- B07TCZGLS4
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Fermented sausage
Meat and fat chopped, seasoned, inoculated with a bacterial culture, cased and then dried. The fermentation is what makes it tangy and it happens before the drying, so two things changed rather than one. This is the other half of the real division on this page: a mince behaves nothing like a whole muscle, and a word that covers both tells you very little.
Soppressata
A pressed dry salami, and a word that covers genuinely different products: the Calabrian version is a protected designation of origin made from specific cuts, while soppressata in the United States is a style name applied at the maker's discretion. Both are fermented and dried; only one of them is a definition.
What to read on the label. Soppressata di Calabria is a legal claim. Soppressata on its own is a shape and a tradition.
2 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Soppressata
Affiliate link
Italian Salami 3 Pack, Calabrese, Soppressata & Finocchiona (5 Ounce Each)
- Lowest new
- $34.99
- Brand
- crait
- ASIN
- B0H7CFH12C
This one carries a protected name. Finocchiona is in the seller's own title, which is a designation claim rather than a style description. Where a product carrying a registered name can be found, this site links it in preference to a generic one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Saucisson sec
The French dry sausage, where the protected names attach to regions rather than to the sausage itself: Saucisson de Lacaune, Saucisson d'Auvergne, Saucisson de l'Ardeche. The specification behind each one fixes the meat, the fat proportion and the minimum drying, which is exactly the information a bare label omits.
What to read on the label. Look for a regional protected name and a stated drying time. Saucisson sec alone tells you it was dried, and that is all.
6 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Saucisson sec
Affiliate link
French Style Dry Cured Sausage Saucisson Sec - 10 OZ - OVERNIGHT GUARANTEED
- Lowest new
- $69.90
- Brand
- Terroirs d'Antan
- ASIN
- B002FCE0H0
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 6 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Nduja
A soft spreadable fermented sausage from Calabria, heavily loaded with chilli. It is the one product in this list whose texture is the point, and the reason it stays spreadable is a high fat fraction rather than an incomplete cure.
What to read on the label. Spreadable is the intended texture, not a sign of an unfinished product. Check the country of manufacture and whether it is ready to eat.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Nduja
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $34.86
- Brand
- NNN NDUJA ARTISANS SALUMERIA
- ASIN
- B075FCGPT2
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salami
The general word for a fermented dried sausage, and the class where the gap between the European register and US law is widest. The register carries dozens of protected salami names, each with a filed specification. In the United States, salami reaching a moisture-protein ratio of 1.9 to 1 or less is a labelling threshold rather than a definition of the product.
What to read on the label. A protected name constrains the recipe and the place. Dry or hard salami in the United States is a statement about moisture, not about method.
10 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Salami
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $15.00
- Brand
- crait
- ASIN
- B0H3CKDF81
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 10 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Chorizo
The word covers two products that are not interchangeable. Spanish chorizo is cured and dried and eaten as it is; Mexican chorizo is a fresh sausage that must be cooked. Both are seasoned with paprika, which is where the colour comes from, and the register protects several Spanish names including Chorizo Riojano and Chorizo de Cantimpalos.
What to read on the label. Spanish and cured, or Mexican and fresh. This is the single most important thing on the label and it is often the smallest print.
10 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Chorizo
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $24.89
- Brand
- TTS Products
- ASIN
- B0GJMW7NVZ
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 10 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Landjager
A pressed, smoked, semi-dried sausage from the Alpine region, made flat because it was made to go in a pocket. It is a useful edge case for this site's categories: fermented and dried like a salami, but also smoked and often eaten well before it reaches a shelf-stable water activity.
What to read on the label. Check whether it is sold shelf stable or refrigerated. The same product is made both ways.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Landjager
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $23.74
- Brand
- Bavarian Meats
- ASIN
- B09781S1LD
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salchichon
The Spanish dry sausage seasoned with black pepper rather than the paprika that defines chorizo. That single difference is what separates the two, and Salchichon de Vic is the protected name that fixes it in law.
What to read on the label. Pepper, not paprika. If it is red it is a chorizo whatever the label says.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Salchichon
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $20.89
- Brand
- FERMIN
- ASIN
- B00A3E5NO6
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 1 registered name in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Pepperoni
An American product with an Italian name, and one of the few in this list with a real US regulatory footprint: FSIS treats pepperoni as a dry sausage and the moisture-protein ratio thresholds apply to it. It has no counterpart in the European register.
What to read on the label. Sliced pepperoni is usually a cooked, refrigerated product; a whole dry stick is the shelf-stable one.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Pepperoni
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $41.75
- Brand
- Fortuna's
- ASIN
- B003B4GPYW
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Summer sausage
A semi-dry fermented sausage, named for the season it was made to survive. It is fermented to a low pH rather than dried hard, which is why it is tangy and why its shelf stability rests on acidification more than on water activity.
What to read on the label. Semi dry, so the acidity is doing the work. Check whether it says shelf stable or refrigerate after opening.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Summer sausage
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Johnsonville Beef Smoked Summer Sausage, 12 oz
- Lowest new
- $7.49
- Brand
- Johnsonville
- ASIN
- B00ZIG1E1U
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Lebanon bologna
A Pennsylvania German fermented beef sausage, heavily smoked and distinctly sour, from Lebanon County. It is one of the most strongly fermented products made in the United States, which is what makes it a standing example in FSIS material on degree-hours.
What to read on the label. Sweet or regular refers to the sugar, not the cure. Both are fermented.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Lebanon bologna
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Buffalo Bills 1 lb Pennsylvania Dutch Sweet Lebanon Bologna Beef Sticks
- Lowest new
- $26.99
- Brand
- Buffalo Bills
- ASIN
- B06XRKNY82
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Soudjouk
A dry spiced sausage found from the Balkans through Turkey and the Caucasus, usually beef, usually flattened, and heavily seasoned with cumin and garlic. Transliteration is the practical problem: sujuk, soudjouk, sucuk and soutzouki are the same word.
What to read on the label. Spelled several ways. Some versions are sold to be cooked rather than eaten as they are.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Soudjouk
Affiliate link
MERVE Baton Soujouk Sujuk Dried Beef Sausage 1.3lb
- Lowest new
- $29.99
- Brand
- Raykush Art
- ASIN
- B0CVLJ7MKG
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 1 registered name in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Dried whole muscle
Salted and air-dried like the hams, but without a fermentation and usually without pork. Bresaola, biltong and basturma are one process family under three languages, and the guidance written for one of them does not automatically carry to the others.
Bresaola
Air-dried salted beef, and one of the few in this list where the protected name is doing almost all the work: Bresaola della Valtellina is a geographical indication rather than a designation of origin, which is the lower bar of the two, requiring at least one stage of production to happen in the defined area. Outside that name, bresaola describes a technique and nothing more.
What to read on the label. Beef cut and cure length are the variables. The protected name fixes the place at one stage, not the whole process.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Bresaola
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Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 1 registered name in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Biltong
Air-dried spiced beef from southern Africa, and a genuinely different process from American jerky: biltong is cured with vinegar and salt and dried in air without heat, where jerky is usually heated. FSIS treats the two separately for exactly that reason, and this site's jerky guideline citations do not carry over to biltong.
What to read on the label. Vinegar cured and air dried, not heated. Wet or dry refers to how far the drying went, which is a texture choice.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Biltong
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BiltongMate Biltong - Air-Dried Beef Jerky Snack, Traditional South African Style, Sliced, 3 oz
- Lowest new
- $9.99
- Brand
- BiltongMate
- ASIN
- B0GZ4MRCBC
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Basturma
Air-dried beef coated in a fenugreek and garlic paste, from Armenia through Turkey to Egypt. It sits in the same process family as bresaola and biltong: a whole muscle salted and dried without fermentation and without heat.
What to read on the label. Spelled basturma, pastirma or pastourma depending on where it was made. The coating is the identifying feature.
2 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Basturma
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No single listing cleared this site's matching checks, so this is a tagged search rather than a recommendation. Nothing is being put forward as the right one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Terms.
Bundnerfleisch
Swiss air-dried beef, pressed into its characteristic rectangular block during drying. Switzerland is not in the EU register, so it is protected under Swiss law instead, which is a good illustration of the register's limit: absence from it is not evidence that a name is unprotected.
What to read on the label. Protected in Switzerland rather than in the EU register, so the EU designation marks will not appear on it.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Bundnerfleisch
Affiliate link
Search Amazon for bundnerfleisch
No single listing cleared this site's matching checks, so this is a tagged search rather than a recommendation. Nothing is being put forward as the right one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Terms.
Jerky
Dried meat strips, and the product with the most specific FSIS guidance of anything in this list: the Compliance Guideline for Meat and Poultry Jerky is where the 0.85 and 0.91 water activity figures on this site come from. Those are limits for Staphylococcus aureus, and they were written for jerky before being applied more widely.
What to read on the label. Shelf stable jerky is dried to a water activity target. A refrigerated one has not been.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Jerky
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $12.99
- Brand
- NO MANS LAND BEEF JERKY
- ASIN
- B0GYQJW97C
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Dried sausage
Cased and dried, but not fermented to a low acidity. Several of these are sold to be cooked rather than eaten as they are, which is the single most important thing on the label and often the smallest print on it.
Lap cheong
Chinese dried sausage, sweetened and usually containing rice wine and soy. It is dried but not fermented to a low pH, which is why it is sold to be cooked rather than eaten as it is, and why its shelf stability rests on water activity rather than on acidification.
What to read on the label. Sold to be cooked. Read the ingredient list for the sweetener and the wine, which are the two things that vary most between makers.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Lap cheong
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $47.50
- Brand
- Kam Yen Jan
- ASIN
- B09W3ZWMKF
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Droewors
The sausage version of biltong: coriander-spiced, air-dried, and usually made thin enough to dry through in days rather than weeks. Like biltong it is vinegar-cured and unheated, which puts it outside the jerky guidance despite the resemblance.
What to read on the label. Air dried and not heated, like biltong. Thickness is what varies between makers.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Droewors
Affiliate link
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Brined and smoked
Cured in brine and then smoked. Whether the smoke was a preservation step or a flavour step depends entirely on the temperature it happened at, and that decides whether what you have bought is raw or cooked.
Pastrami
Corned beef taken further: brined, coated in pepper and coriander, smoked and then steamed. The name comes from the same root as pastirma, but the process diverged completely, because one is air-dried raw and the other is cooked to an endpoint.
What to read on the label. Cooked and refrigerated, like corned beef. The spice crust is the identifying feature.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Pastrami
Affiliate link
Dietz & Watson Pre-Sliced Spiced Beef Pastrami, 6 oz
- Lowest new
- $5.49
- Brand
- Dietz & Watson
- ASIN
- B07C77G1W2
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Kielbasa
The general Polish word for sausage, covering everything from a fresh white sausage to the thin dried kabanosy. Poland has protected several of them, which is the only reliable way to know which product a given word refers to.
What to read on the label. Fresh, smoked or dried, all called kielbasa. The protected Polish names are the specific ones.
3 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Kielbasa
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $77.88
- Brand
- RODEO FOOD
- ASIN
- B0FJFSQ52R
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 3 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Andouille
Two unrelated products share this word. The Louisiana andouille is a coarse smoked pork sausage for cooking. The French andouille de Vire is made from tripe and is a protected regional product. Neither is a substitute for the other.
What to read on the label. Louisiana or French. The French one is offal and the Louisiana one is not.
No protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Andouille
Affiliate link
No definition stands behind this word. There is no protected name for this class in the register and no section of 9 CFR part 319 defining it, so the word on the pack is the maker's. The ingredient list and the nutrition panel are the parts that are regulated.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Bacon
The one cured meat the United States regulates unusually tightly. Most products take the general ingoing nitrite figures in 9 CFR 424.21(c); bacon gets its own section, 424.22(b), with separate limits for pumped or immersion cured, for dry cured, and for immersion cured product, and a required ascorbate or erythorbate addition. That is because bacon is fried, and frying nitrite-cured pork is where nitrosamine formation was found.
What to read on the label. Uncured on a US label does not mean no nitrite. It means the nitrite came from a vegetable source such as celery powder rather than from a declared curing agent, and the label has to carry the words no nitrate or nitrite added except for those naturally occurring in.
No protected name in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Bacon
Affiliate link
365 By Whole Foods Market, Thick Cut Uncured Applewood Smoked Bacon, 16 Ounce
- Lowest new
- $9.49
- Brand
- 365 by Whole Foods Market
- ASIN
- B08L8XW46W
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Brined and cooked
Cured and then cooked to a finished temperature rather than dried. These are refrigerated products, they are not shelf stable, and several of them have a US standard of identity that constrains what the word may be put on.
Mortadella
An emulsified cooked sausage rather than a dried one, which puts it in a different regulatory family from everything else on this list: it is cooked to a lethality endpoint instead of being made shelf stable by drying. Mortadella Bologna is the protected name, and the specification governs the fat cubes as well as the meat.
What to read on the label. Cooked, not dried. Mortadella Bologna is the protected name; the word alone is a style.
2 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Mortadella
Affiliate link
Daniele Italian Mortadella with Pistachios, Avg 15 lb, Authentic Bologna Luncheon Meat, Refrigerated
- Lowest new
- $298.72
- Brand
- HRVST CHEF'S MARKET
- ASIN
- B0F492X3NX
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 2 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Corned beef
Brine-cured beef, and a reminder that curing is not the same as drying. Corned beef is cured and then cooked, so it is a refrigerated product rather than a shelf-stable one, and none of the water activity limits on this site apply to it.
What to read on the label. A cooked, refrigerated product. Shelf-stable canned versions are a different process again.
No protected name in the EU register / 3 US standards of identity / the reference page
Corned beef
Affiliate link
Dietz & Watson Pre-Sliced Traditional Thin Sliced Corned Beef, 6 oz
- Lowest new
- $8.99
- Brand
- Dietz & Watson
- ASIN
- B07CGZ4JQK
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Bologna
An emulsified cooked sausage with a US standard of identity, and a name that has drifted a long way from the Italian mortadella it descends from. The standard is what stops it drifting further: it constrains the ingredients and the added water, which is exactly what the Italian protected name does for mortadella by a completely different legal mechanism.
What to read on the label. A cooked, refrigerated product. Ring bologna and sliced bologna are the same standard in different shapes.
1 protected name in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Bologna
Affiliate link
Dietz & Watson Pre-Sliced Beef Bologna, 7 oz
- Lowest new
- $3.99
- Brand
- Dietz & Watson
- ASIN
- B00ZOPBUCI
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 1 registered name in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Braunschweiger
Smoked liver sausage, and one of the products where the US standard of identity does real work: it fixes a minimum liver content, which is the whole difference between a liver sausage and a sausage with some liver in it. Without a standard the word would mean whatever the maker wanted.
What to read on the label. Liver content is the variable and it is the part the standard constrains. Refrigerated, and cooked rather than dried.
No protected name in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Braunschweiger
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $48.99
- Brand
- Merchandise Unlimited, Inc.
- ASIN
- B0GDS4GBCS
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Frankfurter
Cooked, emulsified and cured, with a US standard of identity that is one of the most argued-over in 9 CFR part 319: it governs the added water, the fat, the binders and what may be called all beef. It is also the product that made the moisture-protein ratio a household regulatory concept.
What to read on the label. All beef, all meat and the unqualified version are three different things under the standard, not three marketing phrases.
No protected name in the EU register / 1 US standard of identity / the reference page
Frankfurter
Affiliate link
Hebrew National All Natural(1) Uncured Beef Franks, Hot Dogs, 10.3 OZ, 6 Count Pack
- Lowest new
- $7.49
- Brand
- Hebrew National
- ASIN
- B07CXGF16D
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
Salt-cured fat
Back fat cured in salt and aromatics, which is a preparation in its own right rather than a byproduct. The protected specifications here describe equipment that cannot be moved, which is about as literal as a designation of origin gets.
Lardo
Salt-cured back fat, and the clearest case in the register of a specification protecting a method that cannot be moved: Lardo di Colonnata is cured in marble basins in a named village, and the basins are in the specification. There is no way to make the protected product anywhere else, which is what a designation of origin is for.
What to read on the label. Colonnata and Valle d'Aosta Lard d'Arnad are the protected names. Anything else is salt-cured fat, which may be excellent and is not the same claim.
1 protected name in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Lardo
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No single listing cleared this site's matching checks, so this is a tagged search rather than a recommendation. Nothing is being put forward as the right one.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Terms.
Fresh or cooked sausage
Cooked rather than preserved. Included because the register protects several of them, which is a useful reminder that a name can be protected as a tradition without the product being preserved at all.
Blood sausage
Cooked rather than cured in the sense the rest of this site means, and included because the register protects several of them: Morcilla de Burgos, Kiszka and Boudin noir de Nancy among others. It is a useful boundary case, because a product can be a protected traditional speciality without being preserved at all.
What to read on the label. Sold cooked and refrigerated. It is not shelf stable and none of the water activity figures on this site apply to it.
3 protected names in the EU register / No US standard of identity / the reference page
Blood sausage
Affiliate link
- Lowest new
- $206.74
- Brand
- Spencer's Jolly Posh
- ASIN
- B08664FXXF
Not the protected designation. This is a product of this type. It is not one of the 3 registered names in this class and it is not covered by any of their specifications.
Paid link: this site earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Price read 2026-09-04, not live. Terms.
The occasional dispatch
When a regulation changes, a guideline is reissued or a new protected name enters the register, it goes out in an email. Occasional, not scheduled, and only when something actually moved.
39 of 44 product classes resolved to a specific listing, and 9 registered names resolved to a seller using that name on 2026-09-04. The rest fall back to a tagged search link and say so, because a keyword search that returns a curing kit or a cookbook instead of the meat is worse than no link. Prices were read on the date printed inside each block and are not re-fetched when the page loads. Register data: the EU register of geographical indications; the full method is on methodology and the commercial terms on disclosures.