Environment Secretary Liz Truss urged North-East food producers to seek Protected Name status for their products.

Speaking at the Northern Farming Conference at Hexham mart she called for more applications to legally protect the region's unique homegrown food and drink.

There are currently more than 60 protected food names in the UK but none in the North-East.

"The North East does have some great food on offer - Teasdale Lamb launched jointly by seven local families," she said, "I want to see more producers come forward and apply for protected food name status for their products.

"Lakeland Herdwick Lamb has already got this status, so has Swaledale and Wensleydale Cheese and so has Forced Yorkshire Rhubarb. We are very happy at Defra to help. It helps sales and export opportunities. These heritage products have world-wide appeal - not just here in Britain."

Under the Protected Food Name scheme, a named food or drink registered at a European level is given legal protection against imitation throughout the European Union.

Ms Truss said: "There are currently no protected names in the North East and I hope that can change. There are certainly some great foods like pease pudding, singing hinnies and Craster kippers, produced using 100-year-old smoke houses and acclaimed by many as the best kippers in Britain.

"Protected food name status provides a huge opportunity to promote high-quality local food, which consumers increasingly love. My department is very willing to help with applications."

Ms Truss urged businesses to look at exports - four per cent of Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese is now exported, with the cranberry variety selling well in America, and Beacon Fell cheese in Lancashire now exports to 30 countries across four continents.

"Cheese producers like these show that the export market is not just for big companies," said Ms Truss, "Farming and food are at the centre of a wider rural economy worth £210bn a year. As well as farms, Northumberland has food and drink companies like Fentimans, based here in Hexham. It's a family-owned, century-old company that exports its botanically brewed ginger beer and other soft drinks to 40 countries."

Since 2010, she said 600 overseas markets had been opened. Recently Singapore and Niger have opened up to British beef and good progress is being made with America and China. Ms Truss will shortly visit China to discuss opening up markets for British pork, beef, dairy and lamb.

At home supermarkets are being encouraged to get good labelling on their products so customers know where their food comes from. "From April 2015 country of origin labelling will be compulsory for pork, lamb, poultry and goat products," she said, "This government is making real progress on ensuring our food is properly labelled.