It has been reported that the European Union has given England's Gloucestershire Old Spot pork the same protected marketing status as French Champagne.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that the ruling, which elevates the pork alongside Champagne and 43 other British products such as Cornish clotted cream, bans farmers and sellers from using the Old Spot label unless the pig came from the Gloucestershire area, which is famously home to the lean-meat pigs that are white with black spots.

It was also noted by the report that Old Spot was granted Traditional Specialty Guaranteed protection, one of the three forms of protected status, which guarantees food bearing the label comes from pedigree Gloucestershire pigs using the county's unique farming methods. The only other protected British product with the same form of protection is Traditional Farmfresh Turkey, which was granted the status 10 years ago.

According to the further reports, Britain has 42 additional products in the other two categories, Protected Designation of Origin, which is for products created entirely in a certain area, and Protected Geographical Indication, which covers products made in a certain area using materials from outside the region. (With Inputs from Agencies)