Frequently Asked Questions

Sugar is used in our sausages because it makes a few different contributions:
– It helps to hold water so the dried products we offer you have the right texture.
– It’s a substrate for micro-organisms. It provides bacteria (which help the sausage to mature) with the nutrients they need to develop.

Salt has several essential roles to play in the prepared meat-making process.
– It helps to preserve products by preventing bacteria from developing.
– It improves their texture by helping the different ingredients that go into our sausages bind together.
– It enhances flavour to give you a really tasty experience.

Nitrate and nitrite additives have been used in dry sausage recipes for 2,000 years to help preserve their meat content.

As our products aren’t cooked, only dried, we use certain additives to guarantee their safety. We have been working for several years to reduce the additives in our meat products.
In addition to helping with preservation, nitrites affect dried sausages’ colour (making them red or pink) and flavour.

In July 2022, the European Food Safety Authority issued a reminder to consumers to limit their dried meat consumption to 150 g per week for the good of their health.

The products in the snacking range are stuffed in strings. After curing and drying them, we use sausage cutters to separate them at the ends. It’s possible that, if the cutter isn’t calibrated quite right, the sausage won’t be sliced at the end but at a third of its length, making it look like someone has bitten into it. It hasn’t been eaten, it’s just been cut in the wrong place. The product’s taste and quality aren’t affected.

Our sausages are usually sprinkled with a white “powder”. In French, we call this the “fleur” (or bloom). We’ve chosen not to use talcum in our products so that they get the right white look. Our white bloom is natural. Bloom is a culture of selected micro-organisms, yeasts and moulds that we have planted on the meat’s surface before the curing phase. It develops during curing phases in which temperature, humidity and ventilation are all carefully controlled. We have selected a white look for our Auvernou products.

– Depending on temperature and humidity levels during storage and transport, other cultures might develop and give the sausage a yellow, green, orange or even black colour.
– Sometimes, this white bloom can develop differently on the sausages’ surface depending on how much material we use initially and products’ location in the curing cupboards and dryers.

To guarantee our products keep their optimal organoleptic qualities, we recommend that you consume Auvernou products before the expiry date shown on their packaging.

Shelf life can vary depending on the product. It’s 60 days for our snacking products (mini sticks, mini pocket sticks, mini snacks and mini dry sausages) and 45 days for our classic products (dry sausages and dry Auvergne sausages).

How you store it depends on your taste. If you want your sausage to stay soft, it’s best to keep it at room temperature, but if you prefer it firm, keep it in a cool, dry and well ventilated place. Once you have opened it, leave it in the fridge.

Natural casing isn’t compatible with our mini sausages, which are too small and standardised. This is why we use collagen sausage casings made from natural mammal-based ingredients, whose shrinkage and adhesion bear strong similarities to natural casings.

Thanks to our range’s various travel-size formats, you can eat our mini sausages anywhere, at any time of day.

The brand’s products are all made in a workshop at an altitude of nearly 750 m located in Ussel, in France’s Massif Central area. This beautiful region is perfect for breeding pigs and making cured meat products.

Auvernou is particularly selective with its pork so that it can offer you the highest-quality products. This is why all Auvernou sausages are made from pigs born, raised and slaughtered in France. Auvernou products have had “Le Porc Français” certification since 2016, which means they meet precise quality and traceability criteria.