§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what regulations there are requiring cooked food retailers and caterers to specify the meat content of meat-style products;
(2) what requirements there are for indicating to consumers the levels of mechanically recovered meat within overall meat contents.
§ Mr. RyderThe Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 require most meat products to be marked or labelled with a declaration of their minimum meat content. These regulations do not require the presence of mechanically recovered meat to be indicated separately.
However, the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 require food treatments and/or the names of ingredients to be appropriately indicated where an omission to do so could mislead purchasers. Both sets of regulations apply to retail sales and sales to caterers.
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§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what regulations there are to control the production of mechanically recovered meat in terms of hygiene and safety.
§ Mr. RyderAll mechanically recovered meat is produced from carcases which have been inspected and passed as fit for human consumption.
In England and Wales, the Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, as amended, apply to the production of mechanically recovered red meat in cutting plants attached to slaughterhouses. The Poultry Meat (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, as amended, apply to mechanically recovered poultry meat produced in licensed cutting premises. Mechanically recovered meat produced in other premises is subject to the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970.
Similar legislation applies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.