Italian restaurants abroad are not always the happy oasis one hopes to find. The causes of some disappointing experiences are attributable to the cuisine, but also to the choice of products, which are often presented as Italian when they are not. After all, outside Italy there are as many as 90 thousand restaurants, pizzerias and pastry shops, officially registered as Italian. For this reason, restaurateurs abroad will now be able to apply for the certificate of “Italianness”.

The initiative was launched by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture together with Italy’s farmers association Coldiretti and Asacert, a certification company based in Milan. The aim is to fight against the so-called Italian Sounding phenomenon, that is, the use of images, geographical names and brands that evoke Italy to promote products that have nothing to do with it.