Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting protected food status to traditional pie and mash.

Defra officials have already discussed the application process for Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status with a representative of the producers. They are clear that an application for TSG status requires agreement on the recipe that producers would need to follow to use the name in future. They also understand that all those wishing to use the name would need periodic verification of their practices. Once a formal application is submitted a full assessment of the case can be made.