The consultation will run for 12 weeks in line with the rules of the EU Protected Food Names (PFN) scheme, which was introduced in 1994 to protect food names on the basis of geographical or traditional recipes.
Here we feature the 62 food and drink products that have already been granted protected name status in an interactive map below.
The food and drink products are colour coordinated in the following way: fresh meat and offal (green); fruit, vegetables and cereals (peach); prepared meat (brown); beverages (orange); dairy (red); pastry (black); fish and seafood (blue) and other products (white).
Zoom in on the map and click on the coloured tabs to view the food and drink products.
Interactive map
The EU PFN scheme highlights regional and traditional foods whose authenticity and origin can be guaranteed.
Under this system a named food or drink registered at a European level will be given legal protection against imitation throughout the EU.
The product is awarded one of three marks: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO); Protected Geographical Indication (PGI); and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG).
Producers who registered their products for protection benefited from having a raised awareness of their product throughout Europe, the government said.
This may in turn help them take advantage of consumers’ increasing awareness of the importance of regional and speciality foods, it added.
Dundee Cake
Dundee Cake is famously decorated with whole, blanched almonds and its distinctive recipe began development in the city in the late 1700s.
Lochhead said Dundee was famous as a city of discoveries and he wanted the world to discover delicious, authentic Dundee Cake.
“We can trace its origins back hundreds of years to the kitchens of the marmalade inventor Janet Keiller, making it a thoroughly Dundonian delicacy which deserves European recognition for its unique characteristics and long associations with this city,” he said.
“The PFN scheme can benefit producers of brands synonymous with Scotland by providing them with recognition of their product and safeguarding it from imitation, and I would encourage them to look at taking this forward.”