Bratwurst region celebrates EU protection for Germany's beloved snack
sausage producers in the German state of Thuringia - home to the nation's beloved bratwurst - have the European Union to thank for a boom in business, a local group says, years after the bloc's decision to give the snack's origins protected status.
Meat-lovers marked the official start of the barbecue season on Saturday with the Bratwurst Festival in Erfurt, the capital of the eastern state. On offer was a variety of grilled sausages, some flavoured with caraway, garlic or marjoram.
Uwe Keith, head of an association for protecting the region's meat brand, told dpa that "the annual production has roughly doubled" since the EU declared special status for the Thuringian bratwurst in 2003.
In 2015, production levels hit around 40,000 tons, compared to pre-2003 levels of about 20,000.
The EU decision means that those selling genuine bratwurst sausages from Thuringia have to specify which producer in that state they sourced the food from.
Records of the first Thuringian bratwurst date back to a 1404 entry in a monastery accounts book in the town of Arnstadt, according to the association, which fought for the sausage's recognition.
It is listed as protected in the EU alongside France's champagne and Italy's gorgonzola, among many other regional specialities. (dpa)
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