European Union-Meat labelling.

EUROPEAN UNION-MORE ON MEAT LABELLING.

The European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee has disavowed its Chairman, Neil Parish (EPP-ED, UK), with its support for the European Commission’s proposal on bringing labelling rules for poultry meat and poultry-based products into line with standards in force for other meat. The members of the committee defended the principle that a product may not be labelled fresh’ if it is manufactured from frozen meat, which is possible at present. The debate was held in the context of the revision of marketing standards for these products, which date back to the 1990s. The committee members argued that only poultry that has been maintained at a temperature of between -2°C and +4°C may be considered fresh’ meat. In contrast, Parish opposes the proposal, saying it could be harmful to certain typically British products, kebabs or nuggets sold in the fresh poultry counter but prepared from frozen meat, often imported from Brazil.

MEPs suggested that it should be mandatory to indicate the place of origin of the meat on the label to allow consumers to make informed choices. They also called for the addition of the date of slaughter to provide more reliable information on the product’s freshness.

The committee members want to delete from the legislative text all elements that could pave the way to the introduction of chlorine-treated poultry on the European market and noted that meat for human consumption must not undergo "any treatment other than cold".