The Meat Products Regulations 2003 - Summary guidance for bakers

Although the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 have been the basis for meat product labelling for some time, there have been several changes in labelling laws which make it necessary to have new regulations.

The main change has been a new European definition of meat for labelling purposes, which is different from the definition currently used in the UK.

The new definition defines meat as 'skeletal muscle with naturally included or attached tissue', and sets specific limits for the amount of fat and connective tissue (i.e., rind, tendon, sinew, skin etc.) allowed (see table below).

The definition specifically excludes MRM, feet and trotters, tail, and head meat but includes cheeks (masseters). It also excludes non-muscle cuts such as liver, kidney, heart etc.

Products are still allowed to contain all of these ingredients - they will just need to be described differently, and they cannot count towards the declared meat content.

	Pork	Birds and Rabbits	Beef, Lamb and other species
Fat:	30%	15%	25%
Connective tissue:	25%	10%	25%

Throughout this Guidance, the phrase 'EC meat' is used to mean 'meat according to the new European definition'.

There are two changes that might affect you.

• The minimum meat requirements for products such as pies and sausage rolls are now expressed in terms of the new meat definition. This means that the actual minimums are lower (because of the stricter limits on fat) although the required amount of lean meat remains the same. If you use certain types of ingredients, this may require you to change your recipes (see paragraph 3 of the guidance).
• Instead of giving a 'minimum meat declaration' for the overall meat content in products, you must now give a QUID declaration for each meat ingredient (based on the new definition). The way in which this declaration is presented to the customer will also change (see paragraph 5 of the guidance).