FSA proposals mean clearer and more accurate labelling of meat content

Thursday 26 September 2002

Ref: 2002/0244

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced proposals to revise the labelling rules of all meat products in England. The new rules will make it easier for consumers to see what type of meat they are getting in foods.

The proposed Meat Products Regulations 2003 (MPR) will lay down tighter controls on what can actually count and be labelled as meat in a product and will set limits on the amount of connected fat and gristle allowed.

The Agency has been actively pressing the European Union (EU) for changes to improve the accuracy of labelling of all meat products. New EU regulations on meat [i], being introduced in January 2003, are welcomed and will mean rules on meat products will apply across the EU:

• Only muscle with certain permitted levels of connective tissues and fat will count as meat in the list of ingredients.
• Where foods contain animal fat, gristle and skin in excess of the new permitted levels, these ingredients will no longer count as meat and will have to be labelled separately.
• Some products may have to declare less meat on the label than before, even though the ingredients actually remain unchanged.

The following is an example, based on an industry recipe for beefburgers, of how the FSA proposals may affect the meat content declared on the label:

Beefburgers:
Label according to current Regulations (MPSFPR)[ii]:
Ingredient list: Beef (82%), water, onion, seasoning, rusk, textured vegetable protein.

How label may read following proposed MPR:
Ingredient list: Beef (71%), water, beef fat, beef connective tissue, onion, seasoning, rusk, textured vegetable protein.

The example shows the labelled meat content falling from 82% to 71%. The 11% of the burger that counted as meat previously, is now listed in the ingredients as beef fat and beef connective tissue - providing more accurate information on actual meat and fat content for the consumer. While this provides a typical example, for each brand of beefburger, the reduction in meat content declared may vary.

For some foods and brands, the proposals may mean changes to actual ingredients rather than just the label. Foods such as pies, sausages and burgers for example, can be classed and labelled as such only if they contain a minimum lean amount of meat. Some products, particularly the economy brands and products used in catering, currently use offal, such as heart, and other parts of the animal in the ingredients.

These ingredients will no longer count as meat. The tighter rules will see some products needing to increase their lean meat content in their ingredients, if they are still to be classed as a burger, pie or sausage.

David Statham, Director of Enforcement and Food Standards at the FSA said:
'The Agency has been working in Europe to encourage the introduction of improved labelling for meat products. Consumers will be able to get more accurate information from the label on how much meat a product actually contains, as well as the amount of extra fat they are getting in a food. As a result what the label calls meat should be exactly that. The new measures will enable consumers to make more informed choices about what they eat.'

Following a 12 week consultation exercise with over 200 industry and consumer groups, the Meat Product Regulations will be laid down in England after 1 January 2003, with a six month transitional period to enable industry to make any necessary changes.

The Agency has prepared detailed guidance notes to assist businesses to comply with the new rules and to ensure consistent enforcement across England. The guidance notes include a user-friendly method to help small business calculate the meat content of products based on the new regulations. In developing the guidance, the Agency has worked closely with a stakeholder group, made up of consumer groups, the meat trade and retail industry, and local authority agencies.