Approval of meat plants

Under the food hygiene legislation, meat plants require approval unless they benefit from specific exemptions.

Slaughterhouses, cutting plants and game handling establishments require veterinary control and must be approved by the the Food Standards Agency.

Any co-located coldstores, minced meat, meat preparation or meat products establishments are also approved by the Agency (when stand-alone, these establishments are approved by the local authority).

Related Items

Operational Policy for the approval of meat establishments undertaken by the FSA (pdf 319KB)

More in this section

Approved red, poultry, and game meat establishments

In this section you will find lists of meat establishments that are approved to slaughter and/or cut meat.
Cutting plants authorised to remove SRM

Vertebral column in cattle older than 30 months and spinal cord in sheep and goats over 12 months of age or with a permanent incisor erupted is specified risk material. It can only be removed in cutting plants authorised under the TSE regulations.
Approved meat products, minced meat and meat preparation establishments

Lists of approved premises only for meat products and for minced meat and meat preparations are published here in Excel format and updated monthly.
General activity establishments

Lists of approved coldstores (independent and standalone), re-wrapping establishments (independent and standalone) and wholesale markets.
Review of the FSA approvals programme for meat establishments in the United Kingdom

A review of the Food Standards Agency's meat establishment approval programme for the United Kingdom was carried out between October and December 2008.