Bakers unable to sell official Limburgse vlaaien due to error in recognition process

A year after the European Commission recognised Limburgse vlaaien as a regional product, only three out of 55 Belgian bakers have passed the inspection to sell the recognised pastry, due to a miscalculation in the recognition file. This was reported by Het Nieuwsblad on Monday.

Last year, the Limburgse vlaai, a type of pie usually filled with fruit or rice, was granted protected geographical indication status by the Commission. This means that only vlaaien made in the Belgian or Dutch part of Limburg that meet certain quality criteria can be sold under this name.

In Belgium, 55 bakers applied for official recognition and were inspected by the FPS Economy last year, but only three passed the inspection. A miscalculation in the recognition file caused the majority of bakers to fail this test.

"We fell off our chair," Hasselt baker Peter Nulens, who has been working on the recognition file for years, told Het Nieuwsblad.

95 per cent failure rate

The file used the weight of a vlaai with a diameter of 30cm - 1.2kg - as a starting point, then incorrectly extrapolated this weight to pies of other sizes. As a result, 95 per cent of Limburgse vlaaien ended up weighing too little, causing most bakers to fail the inspection.

A new dossier has been prepared, but these new conditions have not yet been officially approved. This means that, a year after EU approval, it will be some time before recognised Limburgse vlaaien are available in Flanders. Ten bakers have already dropped out because of the lengthy procedure, says Nulens.

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