PRODUCERS OF the famous Stornoway black pudding – ‘marag dhubh’ in Gaelic – are appealing to the public to help protect the isles’ precious dish.

Concern has arisen following the emergence of copycat ‘Stornoway-style’ black puddings on the market. If successful, the campaign to secure official geographical protection status for the dish would mean any black pudding made outside of Stornoway would be banned from using the Stornoway label.

Last week the Stornoway Black Pudding Producers Association met with members of the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Soil Association of Scotland. They visited each of the four producers’ premises.

Rona ‘Barley’ MacDonald of Charles Macleod butchers – or Charlie Barleys as it is known locally – said: “The Producers Association is made up of four Stornoway Butchers – Charles Macleod, W J Macdonald, Macleod and Macleod, and Alex France.

“The meeting was extremely positive, with the status of the application being discussed, action points being agreed and a general brainstorming session took place following the site visits that had taken place during the morning.”

She said the Association was now appealing to the public for any information concerning the tradition of black pudding to help support their case: “We are looking to gather historical information on the links to island and crofting life and Stornoway black pudding production.” Anyone with information, such as old articles, photographs or recipes, should email stornowayblackpudding@hotmail.com.

Commenting on the importance of gaining protected status, she said: “It would protect the consumer from being misled about the provenance and quality of Stornoway black pudding. And we also hope that it would encourage growth and investment in the rural economy through promotion to the consumer of the Stornoway black pudding as the guaranteed and genuine article.”

She added: “The four Stornoway producers all use traditional family recipes dating back generations, and the recipes have remained unchanged over the decades. It is vitally important that any product presented to the market place as ‘Stornoway Black Pudding’ is the genuine article.”

Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan commented: “One of the most iconic products the Western Isles makes is Stornoway black pudding. Local butchers deserve the right to make this free from imitations, and with this in mind, there have been efforts at both a Scottish and European level to ensure that ‘Stornoway style’ black pudding is not passed off as the genuine article.”

He added: “I know that the SNP’s Members of the European Parliament among others have pressed the argument that Stornoway Black Pudding should be listed among the products from around Europe that enjoy a special protection, so that products made outside the Western Isles cannot use this name.”