250 tubes of wine-flavoured crisps taken in investigation into use of protected name

The Italian agriculture minister, Teresa Bellanova, has pledged to fight against “identity theft” after hundreds of tubes of prosecco-flavoured Pringles were seized from a supermarket chain in the Veneto region.

The supermarket had purchased the crisps, officially labelled “prosecco and pink peppercorn flavour”, from a marketing affiliate of Pringles in the Netherlands. The product is among the brand’s “Dinner Party” range.

The name prosecco has been protected since being granted DOC (denomination of controlled origin) status in 2009 and can be used only if authorised by the region’s consortium of prosecco producers.

“Identity theft must not be allowed,” said Bellanova. “The seizure testifies to the strong commitment of the ministry and the ICQRF, our authority which fights against food fraud and for the protection of quality, to fight against the usurpation of Italian protected names.”

Luca Zaia, the Veneto president who often wages war against anything that could harm the image of the region’s famous sparkling wine, shared a photograph of the offending can of Pringles on Facebook, superimposed with the message: “NO!”

“We can no longer tolerate the use of a protected name without authorisation,” Zaia wrote.

“Just think,” he continued. “Yesterday hundreds of cans of prosecco crisps, made up of ingredients including an unspecified ‘prosecco powder’, were seized from a chain of supermarkets in Veneto, purchased from a Dutch company … this is why we have been insisting for years that we need to protect our excellences from fraud, abuse and anything ‘Italian-sounding’, as it primarily damages honest producers who promote quality and the territory.”

Prosecco and pink peppercorn Pringles were first launched last autumn as limited-edition Christmas snacks, selling in the UK, where the drink is wildly popular, in Asda and Tesco.

The investigation in Italy, which was carried out by the ICQRF unit in the prosecco-producing area of Conegliano, led to the seizure of 250 tubes. “But the investigation does not stop,” said Stefano Vaccari, the unit’s chief. “We could eventually find thousands of boxes as other withdrawals are under way and the company has also undertaken to withdraw the product.”

Pringles said in a statement: “The prosecco and pink peppercorn variant was produced in 2018 as a limited edition for the Christmas holiday period. We used prosecco DOC as an ingredient in the aroma and the use of the name of the product on the packaging was designed in line with DOC guidelines and European regulations. We have no plans to produce this variant in the future.”