The market for your fancy hams just got more crowded

LIKE Kobe beef and halibut sushi, much of what you see labelled as jamón ibérico is fake. Though the narrative of acorn-fattened pigs roaming the woodlands of western Spain is popular, it appears to be a misleading one: Most ibérico pigs spend their short, unremarkable lives slopping up provender on factory farms.

Since the price and quality of jamón ibérico vary widely - high-end examples can fetch more than US$200 a pound (450 grammes) - Spain's Ministry of Agriculture rolled out designations a few years back that minimise th…