‘Classic’ Piadinas, IGP, organic, wholemeal, lard-free and gluten-free. The offer at the supermarket is really wide. We examined 45 of them to evaluate their recipe and nutritional profile.
As usual, the sampling includes industrial, private label and discount brand products. (1)
1) Piadina IGP, two versions
The Romagna Piadina (or Piada romagnola) IGP comes in two forms:
– the compact, rigid and crumbly one, with a diameter between 15 and 25 cm and a thickness of 4-8 cm
– the ‘Rimini-style’ version, soft and flexible, with a wider diameter (from 23 to 30 cm) and a thickness of up to 3 mm.
IGP piadinas must be prepared according to the specifications, developed by the Consortium for the protection of Piadina Romagnola IGP. Which, if you look closely, does not prescribe very stringent requirements.
The essential feature in fact, the use of the IGP trademark depends on the producer’s location in a geographical area that includes 84 municipalities in the provinces of Rimini, Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna and Bologna.
2) Piadina Romagnola IGP, a simple recipe
Method of the Piadina Romagnola IGP includes:
– Mandatory ingredients, rather broad. That is to say
- soft wheat or spelt flour (without specifying the Type, i.e. the degree of sifting, or sifting, more or less fine);
- water;
- salt, up to a maximum (undoubtedly high, ed.) of 2,5g per 100g
- fats up to a maximum of 25%, chosen between lard and/or olive oil and/or extra virgin olive oil.
No constraints it is related to the origin of the raw materials;
– optional ingredients (with a suspicious additive)
- leavening agents. In addition to sodium bicarbonate (i.e. bicarbonate) and corn or wheat starch, the use of disodium diphosphate (E450) is permitted. This additive is very common in baked goods but not recommended, since its consumption is associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk, especially in people with kidney failure. And it is present, unfortunately, in all 15 IGP piadinas examined;
- sunflower seed oil, only if used together with and in smaller quantities than extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- cow’s milk and flower honey. Unusual ingredients, in fact never found in the list of ingredients of the 45 products examined. (see specification attached at the bottom of the page).
3) IGP Piadinas, 4 anomalies in 15 products
Some anomalies emerge on the labels of 4 of the 15 IGP piadinas examined:
– two piadinas branded Certossa report the treatment of the product with ethyl alcohol. An ingredient and not an additive, as we have seen, which however does not appear in the specifications; (2)
– the labels of the IGP piadinas under the Conad and Todis brands do not indicate the type of soft wheat flour used. This information is not required by the specifications, but is of interest to many consumers.
3.1) Saturated fats, flours and salt
The fat matter rarely reaches half of the enormous quantity allowed in the specification (25%). In four piadinas out of 15, it is extra virgin olive oil, in a quantity varying from 6 to 8,6%. The other piadinas contain lard.
The difference (as well as in the flavor) is reflected in the average percentage of saturated fat: 4,7% in the recipe with lard and 1,4% in the one with EVOO.
Flour of soft wheat in only three cases is Type 0, less ‘refined’ than Type 00. No impact on the fibre content emerges.
Salt – of which WHO (World Health Organization) recommends not exceeding a maximum daily intake of 4-5 g – in three cases exceeds 2 g per 100 g. A high amount, considering the additional contributions provided by the foods used to fill the piadina and any other foods that accompany meals during the day. Consuming too much salt, it is recalled, favors numerous diseases including type 2 diabetes, dementia and Alzheimer’s. (3)
3.2) A single IGP piadina ‘100% Made in Italy’
In the general silence on the origin, among the raw materials, the Riccione Piadina IGP stands out, the only one to declare the ingredients ‘100% Made in Italy’ on the label. And so:
– lard from pigs raised in Italy
– salt and leavening agents of Italian origin (including diphosphate, unfortunately)
– flour made from soft wheat grown in Romagna.
4) Non-IGP Piadinas, an interesting variety
The 15 non-IGP piadinas show a variety of interesting offers in various aspects.
Esselunga offers two products (one with lard, the other with EVOO) that could be included in the IGP if they were produced in the geographical area indicated by the specification. The recipe in these cases is actually better than that of the IGP examined. Lard or extra virgin olive oil as the fat and Type 0 soft wheat flour, without additives or yeast, or the questionable leavening agent E450.
The rest of the sample, however, it presents various differences compared to the classic recipe of Piadina Romagnola IGP:
– the classic Carrefour contains rice starch, but no additives or leavening agents
– the ‘classic’ low-cost one with lard branded Spesotti Coop contains brewer’s yeast
– the ‘traditional puff pastry’ of CRM in turn contains an unspecified ‘yeast’
– four products (two from Coop and two from Barilla – Mulino Bianco) refer to surface treatment with ethyl alcohol
– finally, six products use only sunflower seed oil as a fat.
5) The six worst piadinas
Six products are instead classified as ultra-processed foods. Behind the appearance and the commercial name of ‘piadina’, one notes the use of synthetic flavourings and questionable additives such as emulsifiers mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, guar gum and the already commented diphosphates.
The worst ‘piadinas’ there are three low-cost products (Esselunga Smart, Eurospin, Todis), two Loriana-branded products and one Morato-branded product.
6) Wholemeal piadinas
Among the five wholemeal piadinas sampled only the Conad ‘sfogliata’ is a semi-wholemeal (31%).
Flour is always made of soft wheat, of Italian origin only in the Esselunga piadina.
No additives appears in the recipes. In two cases (Conad and Coop) there is no yeast, in two others (Carrefour and Mulino Bianco) ethyl alcohol is used.
The amount of fiber in the four wholemeal piadinas is on average 6,22%, triple the IGP piadinas, which on average contain 2,2%. An element to consider when organizing meals, considering that a diet rich in fibre and whole grains reduces the risk of premature mortality by up to a third. (4)
7) Organic pearls
Out of the five organic piadinas sampled, four are semi-wholemeal, with wholemeal flour making up just under a third.
Organic piadinas from Carrefour and Conad are based on private label Kamut khorasan wheat (from certified organic crops in North America), a hard wheat and therefore less elastic.
Whole wheat is instead present in the Lidl organic piadina (34%) and in the Esselunga one, which instead uses only Italian type 0 soft wheat in high concentration (62%).
The fat matter is always extra virgin olive oil, always 7%, together with sunflower oil in the Lidl piadina.
Organic farming products, as usual, stand out for the absence of problematic additives. Even the questionable diphosphates, even foreseen in the IGP recipe, are in fact prohibited in all organic foods. (5) A reminder of the need to favor organic consumption to safeguard the environment from the spread of agrotoxins and protect one’s health by eating ‘clean’ foods.
8) Gluten-free but with many additives
Making a dough elastic for baked goods, giving up cereals that contain gluten always involves a compromise.
In the case of the five piadinas designed for people intolerant to gluten examined here, the soft wheat flour is replaced by a mix of gluten-free flours, thickening additives and emulsifiers.
The least natural recipes are those of the gluten-free piadinas to be kept outside the fridge by Conad and Coop. Which contain five problematic additives and also synthetic aromas. These products, among other things, have a high salt content (>2%)
Fior di Loto, with its organic gluten-free piadina, undoubtedly offers the best product. The only one, among the five gluten-free samples, not to contain the leavening agent diphosphate (E450), and to contain only two non-problematic additives (since they are included in the restricted list of food additives permitted in organic products).
9) Additives in gluten free
Most additives used in gluten-free piadinas are related to intestinal disorders (bloating, flatulence, diarrhea or constipation, irritation of the intestinal mucosa).
It is, as summarized in the table, of
– E466, carboxymethylcellulose
– E415, Xanthan gum
– E422, glycerol
– E464, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, for which there are also concerns about the levels of impurities of the residue HPC (propylene chlorohydrin), which has mutagenic effects
– E412, guar gum. (6)
10) Conad’s slip-up on palm oil
Palm oil free is a claim that is often found on piadina labels. It is therefore surprising that Conad – limited to gluten-free piadinas – publishes the following notice on its e-commerce site:
‘The product may contain palm oil, due to the difficulties in supplying sunflower seed oil due to the emergency situation.
We invite you to check the product label upon delivery.’.
A slip both for the possible return to an ingredient rejected by Italian consumers, and for the violation of the Food Information Regulation (EU) No 1169/11 (Article 14).
Marta Strinati
ATTACHED. Piadina Romagnola Specifications, 2021
Footnotes
(1) Sampling conducted between 16 and 23 September 2024 in physical stores in Rome and in food e-commerce platforms.
(2) Ethyl alcohol in baked goods, how to indicate it on the label? The lawyer Dario Dongo answers. FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 24.11.21
(3) Marta Strinati. Here’s how excess salt promotes dementia and Alzheimer’s. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(4) Dario Dongo, Carlotta Suardi. Whole grain and fiber, long healthy life. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(5) Marta Strinati. Pesticides used in conventional and organic farming. Toxicity comparison. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.3.23
(6) Marta Strinati. Food additives, we ingest up to 10 kg per year. I study french. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
