Court ruling saves Asda's bacon

A judge today gave the Asda supermarket chain the go-ahead to carry on slicing its ham wherever it chooses.

A legal "opinion" from the European Court of Justice rejects claims that Asda is breaching EU rules by selling ham from Parma in Italy which is sliced and packaged elsewhere.

The Court's advocate-general said the distinction was not covered by EU rules restricting the use of geographical names for traditional products when the foodstuff does not come from that region.

Asda does buy its Parma ham in Parma - but prefers to slice and package some of it in Britain or anywhere else where costs are lower.

But that upset an Italian Parma ham trade association, which took Asda to court on the grounds that Parma ham must be sliced and package in the Parma production region, under Italian law.