- 12/04/2015
- Posted by: Marta
- Category: News
The indication of origin on meat labels is mandatory http://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/news-food-times/origine-delle-carni-dall-1-aprile-in-etichetta-e-pur-manca-qualcosa – starting from April 1, 2015 (1) for fresh, chilled and frozen meat of swine, sheep, goats and poultry species (including ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl. Excluding livers). On the other hand, it has not been foreseen - and perhaps it will not be - for horse meat, rabbit and hare, quail.
The European Commission, in the first of the reports entrusted to it in relation to the origin, had considered the substantial uselessness of extending the mandatory indication to meats used as ingredients of other products (eg cured meats, ready meals, ragù, etc.). Nonetheless, on 11 May 2015 the European Parliament voted by a large majority on a resolution calling on Brussels to extend the obligation to indicate the origin of meat used as an ingredient in other food products. Considering both the will expressed by 90% of consumers interviewed in the impact assessment carried out by the Commission, and the converging interests of SMEs that express most of the production (90% of meat processing companies in the EU).
The Strasbourg Assembly also urged the European Commission to:
- carry out further impact assessments, to better consider the opportunity to extend the obligation to indicate the origin and / or provenance of raw materials to a wider variety of products,
- define the methods for communicating the different origin of the primary ingredient (e.g. tomato) in cases where the origin of the product is declared on a voluntary basis (e.g. Italian sauce) (2),
- review the methods of voluntary information on the origin, with a view to preventing fraud.
Dario Dongo
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