AUTHENTIC HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTS AND SUSTAINABLE PIG PRODUCTION (A-SUS)

Farm to fork strategy of the European Commission’s Green Deal envisages a transition to more agro-ecological food systems which need to be holistically (re)designed to best balance the demands for productivity, sustainability, quality, and other societal values (ecosystem services). Pig farming systems generate valuable products for human consumption; but as pigs are direct concurrent to humans for cereals and protein resources the distribution of feed resources (especially proteins) makes this sector more vulnerable and more submitted to societal pressures. To meet this challenge, farming systems, especially pig production, need to better balance consumer demands, productivity, sustainability, and quality. In this context, the pork sector can build on the tradition of consumption and appreciation of pork products along with more sustainable production i.e. to build on value-added products that meet consumer expectations. Nowadays, pork comes mainly from an intensive production system that has been constantly maximizing animal performance, efficiency, and lean carcass content leading to some negative impacts on pork quality. The European Commission has adopted legislation to ensure the safety and quality of food and agricultural products and this is also emphasized in the European Commission’s Green Deal. The quality policy for the protection of agricultural products is aimed at diversification, greater competitiveness, and consumer protection. Besides protecting traditional and geographical products, organic production and other voluntary schemes are considered in this framework. It is important to ensure the credibility of the quality system and to enhance the added value in the long term. In the case of pig meat, the quality aspect is very important because an increasing proportion of consumers prefer to eat less meat of higher quality (e.g. flexitarians). In this case, labels or claims related to the quality and image of meat (from sustainable production systems e.g. organic) may influence consumer purchasing behavior. Thus, developing the products in line with societal and consumer expectations and finding the tools for objective assessment of food authenticity is important for better positioning on the market. Project A-SUS will address these challenges with two pilot studies using a multi-analytical approach and state-of-the-art methodology to characterize fresh pork and pork products stemming from different husbandry systems. The project will address the research on dry-cured ham Kraški pršut, an economically very important product in Slovenia which is facing strong competition and needs diversification and fresh pork under two voluntary quality schemes, “organic” and “selected quality”. Three objectives will be pursued: Objective 1: characterization of intrinsic quality (physical, chemical, volatile and sensory profile) of fresh pork and PGI dry-cured ham Kraški pršut, Objective 2: to analyze consumer expectations regarding pork extrinsic cues and consumer liking of dry-cured hams from different production systems, Objective 3: To evaluate the ability of stable isotope ratios analysis to discriminate between fresh pork from different production systems (organic, “selected quality” and standard/commodity product).