PDO, PGI and TSG appear on cheese, olive oil, ham, cured meats and many other European foods, but they do not mean the same thing and they are not a ranking from \u201cbest\u201d to \u201cworst\u201d<\/strong>. They are regulated quality schemes protecting registered names and defined production rules. Understanding the difference helps avoid two common mistakes: assuming every traditional product has a geographical indication, and assuming one label guarantees an identical flavour from every producer.<\/p>\n

Quick guide: what each abbreviation means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Scheme<\/th>\n	Main purpose<\/th>\n	Link with place<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
PDO<\/strong><\/td>\n	A registered name closely linked to a defined place, know-how and product characteristics<\/td>\n	The essential production, processing and preparation stages are tied to the defined area<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PGI<\/strong><\/td>\n	A registered name whose quality, reputation or another characteristic is linked to geographical origin<\/td>\n	At least one relevant production stage is linked to the area<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TSG<\/strong><\/td>\n	A traditional composition or production method<\/td>\n	It does not necessarily protect one geographical origin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The exact legal wording depends on the applicable EU rules and product specification. The useful distinction is that PDO and PGI are geographical indications, while TSG protects tradition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n What a PDO protects<\/h2>\n PDO means Protected Designation of Origin<\/strong>. The registered name identifies a product with a strong connection to a defined place and specification. The specification may set out the geographical area, authorised raw materials, breeds or varieties where relevant, processing, maturation, controls and product characteristics.<\/p>\n This does not make every product within one PDO taste identical. Producers can still differ in raw material, harvest, ageing, curing time or house style within the common rules. A PDO defines what must be respected; it does not reduce flavour to one formula<\/strong>.<\/p>\n What a PGI protects<\/h2>\n PGI means Protected Geographical Indication<\/strong>. It also protects a name connected with a place, but the required production link is different from a PDO. Broadly, at least one relevant stage must be linked to the area and a quality, reputation or other characteristic must be attributable to the geographical origin.<\/p>\n That is why PDO should not be read as \u201chigher quality\u201d and PGI as \u201clower quality\u201d. They are different legal models for linking a product name with a place<\/strong>.<\/p>\n What a TSG protects<\/h2>\n TSG means Traditional Speciality Guaranteed<\/strong>. The core idea is tradition: a recognised recipe, composition or method of production. Unlike PDO and PGI, it does not require the food to come from one specific region. Protection centres on the registered traditional characteristics.<\/p>\n The logo does not replace the registered name<\/h2>\n When buying, do not rely only on recognising a coloured EU symbol. Read the full registered name<\/strong>. Expressions such as \u201cstyle\u201d, \u201ctype\u201d, \u201ctraditional\u201d or a geographical reference in a brand name do not automatically create PDO, PGI or TSG status.<\/p>\n How to verify a protected name<\/h2>\n \n Look for the full protected name, not merely a place reference.<\/li>\n Check the EU logo where applicable and any official certification identifiers.<\/li>\n Use the official EU register if a name is unclear.<\/li>\n Read the rest of the label: a quality scheme does not replace category, ingredients, producer or format information.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Examples across Spanish foods<\/h2>\n You can apply this framework to our guide to Spanish PDO cheeses<\/a>, Iberian ham PDO guide<\/a> and olive-oil PDO guide<\/a>. Those guides focus on what the individual registered names protect rather than repeating the general legal distinction.<\/p>\n PDO does not automatically mean artisan, organic or acorn-fed<\/h2>\n These are separate concepts. A geographical indication protects a registered name under a specification; organic production follows different rules; artisan terminology depends on context and applicable law; and acorn-fed or grain-fed categories belong to the specific Iberian system. They may coexist on one product, but one term does not automatically imply the others<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The useful takeaway<\/h2>\n When you see PDO or PGI, think first about the link between a registered name, a place and a specification<\/strong>. When you see TSG, think about a traditional composition or method<\/strong>. Then compare the details that matter for the actual product: raw material, producer, processing, maturation or harvest and the style you want.<\/p>\n Official source<\/h2>\n \n European Commission: geographical indications and quality schemes<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n \n Related reading<\/h2>\n \n Iberian ham producing areas in Spain: Salamanca, Huelva, Extremadura and C\u00f3rdoba<\/a><\/li>\n Spain's main olive-oil producing areas: how EVOO changes with origin<\/a><\/li>\n Cheeses of Catalonia: Garrotxa, Alt Urgell and other traditional styles<\/a><\/li>\n Roncal PDO cheese: raw sheep milk, valley and minimum maturation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What PDO, PGI and TSG mean, what each EU quality scheme protects, how they differ and how to verify a genuine registered name.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[445],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guias-y-consejos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t