COMMUNICATION OF APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

(Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143)

‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’

EU reference number: PDO-IT-0950-AM01 – 17.3.2026

1.   Product name

‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’

2.   Geographical indication type

☑

PDO

☐

PGI

☐

GI

3.   Sector

☑	Agricultural products

☐

Wines

☐	Spirit drinks

4.   Country to which the geographical area belongs

Italy

5.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

Name

MASAF (Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry)

6.   Qualification as a standard amendment

The amendments fall under the definition of a standard amendment since they do not include a change in the name or in the use of the name, do not risk voiding the link with the geographical area and do not entail further restrictions on the marketing of the product.

7.   Description of the approved standard amendment(s)

Title

Amendment to Article 2 of the product specification and point 4.2 of the single document on the description of the product

Description

—	The height of the heel has been modified by slightly reducing the lower limit.

☑	The amendment affects the single document.

Title

Article 3 of the product specification relating to the production area and point 5 of the single document have been amended

Description

—	The production area has not been modified but merely adapted to the administrative reforms which have led to some administrative designations changing as a result of mergers between municipalities within the demarcated geographical area.

☑	The amendment affects the single document.

Title

The amendment concerns Article 4 of the product specification relating to the proof of origin

Description

—	The term ‘producers’ has been replaced by the more precise term ‘dairies’. The word ‘ripeners’ has been added and the word ‘packager’ has been deleted.

☐	The amendment affects the single document.

Title

The amendment concerns Article 5 points 1, 2 and 3 of the product specification regarding the method of production

Description

—	The ban on the feeding of mixtures and of the single feed or Unifeed has been deleted.

—	A specification has been added that the ban on the use in feed of by-products of the sugar industry concerns fermented products.

—	The specification concerning the containers used to transport the milk has been deleted.

—	The requirement for milk to be cooled or chilled in the case of the use of tanker vehicles has been deleted.

—	The requirement for milk to be cooled on the farm in the case of a single daily collection has been moved from Article 5(3) to Article 5(2).

—	The words ‘or any second milking’ have been deleted from Article 5(3), meaning that the milk is necessarily processed within 60 hours of the first milking.

—	The reference to the second milking has been deleted in order to allow for automatic milking systems.

—	The cooling of the milk at 15-20 °C has been deleted, keeping only the cooling requirement of 8-16 °C in the case of a single collection per day.

—	The curdling time is slightly reduced from 25 minutes to 20 minutes minimum.

—	The minimum curd size of a maize kernel has been introduced.

☐	The amendment affects the single document.

Title

The amendment concerns Article 8 point 2 of the product specification and point 4.6 of the single document on the labelling of the product

Description

—	An obligation has been added to stamp the letter ‘M’ onto the rind of the ‘di malga’ (mountain pasture) cheese so as to highlight this type of product.

—	The obligation to indicate the reference number or code of the producer dairy and the production batch on the packaged product has been deleted.

☑	The amendment affects the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

Designations of origin and geographical indications of agricultural products

‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’

EU reference number: PDO-IT-0950-AM01 – 17.3.2026

1.   Name(s)

‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’

2.   Geographical indication type

☑

PDO

☐

PGI

☐

GI

3.   Country to which the defined geographical area belongs

Italy

4.   Description of the agricultural product

4.1.   Classification of the agricultural product in accordance with the Combined Nomenclature heading and code, as referred to in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143

0406 – Cheese and curd

4.2.   Description of the agricultural product to which the registered name applies

‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ PDO is a cheese produced from milk from cows of the Bruna (Brown), Frisona (Friesian), Pezzata Rossa (Red Pied), Grigio Alpina (Alpine grey), Rendena (indigenous species) and Pinzgauer breeds and their crosses. Milk from one or more of these breeds may be used for production.

The cheese is cylindrical, with a low heel, slightly convex or flat sides and flat or slightly convex faces; the rind is smooth or with a few wrinkles, unctuous, and its colour is yellow ochre, light or reddish brown. The cheese is semi-cooked with a medium-hard, elastic texture, white to light yellow in colour, with a few medium-sized to small holes. Cheese made from mountain pasture milk has medium-sized to large holes and a more intense yellow colour.

Its flavour is strong, intense, slightly and pleasantly salty and/or sharp, with a barely perceptible bitter aftertaste. Its aroma is strong and penetrating, with a slight hint of ammonia.

The diameter of the cheese varies from 34 to 42 cm, and the heel height is between 8 and 12 cm; the cheese weighs from 8 to 13 kg.

It can be produced throughout the year.

The fat content, expressed as a percentage of the dry matter, may not be more than 45 %; the moisture content varies from 34 % to 44 %, measured when the cheese is at least 90 days old. The minimum maturing period is 90 days. After 150 days of ripening the cheese may be defined as ‘mature’.

4.3.   Derogations on sourcing of feed (for products of animal origin designated by a Protected Designation of Origin only) and restrictions on sourcing of raw materials (for processed products designated by a Protected Geographical Indication only)

For the production of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’, at least 60 % of the feed for the lactating cows must be forage (permanent pasture hay and/or grass grazed or consumed directly on the pasture) which must come from the production area defined in point 4.

The use of milk from cows fed on silage of any kind is excluded.

The cows’ feed may be supplemented with feed materials or compound feedstuffs so as to ensure that the cows are given a balanced diet for milk production.

In addition to the feedstuffs not permitted by the legislation in force, the feed may also not contain the following products:

—	rapeseed-cake, grape-pip or citrus-pip meal,

—	dried by-products of the industrial processing of fruit and vegetables,

—	sugar-industry by-products,

—	dried by-products of the fermentation industry,

—	dried vegetables and fruit.

Raw cow’s milk from two successive milkings and partially skimmed by natural surface skimming. Mountain pasture milk may be used to produce ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’.

4.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

The entire production process (rearing, milk production and processing, and the salting, treatment and maturing of the cheese) must take place within the area defined in point 4.

4.5.   Specific rules concerning packaging, slicing, grating etc. of the agricultural product to which the registered name refers

—

4.6.   Specific rules concerning the labelling of the agricultural product to which the registered name refers

The cheese is identified by the wording ‘PDO Puzzone di Moena’ stamped several times on the rind and printed on the label bands; this wording should be larger than any other wording on the product.

An appropriate mark will indicate the dairy’s reference number or code, the production batch and, where required, the capital letter ‘M’ for the ‘di malga’ type.

The cheese may be sold whole or in portions; when put on the market the whole cheeses or the various types of packaging must carry the wording ‘PDO Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ or either of the two wordings ‘PDO Puzzone di Moena’ or ‘PDO Spretz Tzaorì’, and where appropriate the wording ‘stagionato’ (‘mature’) and/or ‘di malga’ (‘from mountain pastures’); the latter wording may only be used if all the milk used to make this cheese is from cows kept on mountain pastures.

5.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ is that of the following administrative municipalities: Campitello di Fassa, Canal San Bovo, Canazei, Capriana, Castello Molina di Fiemme, Cavalese, Imer, Mazzin, Mezzano, Moena, Panchià, Predazzo, Primiero San Martino di Castrozza, Sagron Mis, San Giovanni di Fassa – Sén Jan, Soraga, Tesero, Valfloriana, Ville di Fiemme and Ziano di Fiemme in the Province of Trento; Anterivo and Trodena in the Province of Bolzano.

6.   Link with the geographical area

Summary of the link

Specificity of the geographical area

The geographical environment in which PDO ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ is produced is typically alpine. The defined geographical area consists of three localities – the Fiemme valley, the Fassa valley and Primiero – Vanoi.

The rainfall, the major climatic differences between the seasons and the altitude of the meadows and pastures (ranging from 600 metres above sea level to more than 2 000 metres for some mountain pastures), combined with the differences in soil chemistry, mostly limestone – dolomite but silicate in some areas, favour the growth of a heterogeneous flora, in particular in the meadows and pastures, and together create the specific conditions which link ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ with the defined area. The flora of the area which is of special interest includes the ‘endemic’ species, most of which date back to ancient times, but which are now only growing in small areas.

In this alpine context, even the farms, which are small to medium-sized family-run businesses, have an important role to play in protecting the landscape by maintaining meadows and pastures and by preserving and carrying on the traditional cheese making methods such as ‘lavaggio’ (‘washing’), which has been preserved by the local farmers and which is used in making PDO ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’. This method traditionally involves periodically turning over and bathing each cheese in tepid, slightly salted water, with decreasing frequency as the cheese matures.

Specificity of the product

The denomination PDO ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ refers to a semi-hard, soft table cheese with a washed rind, recognisable by its typical intense, penetrating aroma with a hint of ammonia. The intense aroma of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ is accompanied by a pleasantly salty and/or sharp flavour with a slightly bitter aftertaste. ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ also has an unctuous patina on its rind which, during the maturing process, becomes darker, changing from ochre yellow to light or reddish brown.

Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The special flavour and aroma of the PDO ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ cheese is linked to the high quality of the raw milk used. This milk, with a richer microbiological content than heat-treated milk, plays a major role in characterising the intensity of the flavour and aroma of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’.

The high quality of the milk used in producing ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ is due to the high quality of the feed given to the lactating cows, i.e. the ban on using silage, and is greatly influenced by the cows being fed with hay and/or grass from the area or grazing directly on the area’s pastures, rich in specific fodder.

It is also worth mentioning the particular contribution made by the area’s producers, who over the years have become adept at making ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’; this expertise, during the cheese making and maturing process, has helped them to avoid the presence of unwanted yeasts which might change the characteristic aroma and flavour of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’.

The production method for ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ PDO involves the particularity of washing the cheeses in tepid water, sometimes with the addition of a little salt. This practice is carried out by the local producers during the maturing process and enables the cheeses to form an unctuous patina on the rind, which progressively changes colour from ochre yellow to light or reddish brown. This unctuous patina promotes the development of specific biochemical activity within the cheese while it is maturing, resulting in the formation of chemical compounds responsible for the special taste and aroma of ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’.

In former times ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ was particularly well liked by the rural poor living in the alpine regions due to its strong, even sharp flavour and aroma, often salty, because even in small quantities it added flavour to their bland peasant diet, often based on polenta or potatoes.

In 1984, at the Concours International des Fromages de Montagne (International Alpine Cheese Competition) held in Grenoble, ‘Puzzone di Moena / Spretz Tzaorì’ was awarded the bronze medal.

Electronic reference (URL) to the publication of the product specification

https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/3340

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(1)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27 of 30 October 2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules concerning the registration and the protection of geographical indications, traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms and repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (OJ L, 2025/27, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/27/oj).