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Meat Products Compositional Standards

This leaflet has been prepared for the guidance of traders by the Northern Counties Chief Trading Standards Officers Group. It is not an authoritative document on the law and is only intended for guidance.

This Leaflet Covers

It summarises the law requiring some types of meat products to contain a minimum amount of meat, lean meat, and named meat.

This Leaflet Does Not Cover

The labelling of meat products which is described in another leaflet.

Meat Products

Any food which contains meat from an animal or bird, or which meat is an ingredient, except:-

raw meat with no added ingredients except proteolytic enzymes;

uncooked chickens and turkeys etc, to which no ingredients have been added other than additives, water, self-basting preparations, or seasonings;

haggis, black-pudding or white-pudding and brawn and collard head;

Sandwiches and similar products;

a food for which the name is 'broth', 'gravy', or 'soup';

stock cubes and similar products;

a product containing fat but no other meat.

Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements are summarised below.

Sales to Caterers

These must comply with the minimum standards the same as if they were being sold by retail.

Problems

If you make your own products ensure that you know, and stick to, the exact recipe and make due allowance for variations in mixing and/or manufacture.

MINIMUM COMPOSITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN MEAT PRODUCTS
Table A

Name of Product	Minimum Meat Content	Minimum Lean Meat Content	Type of Meat Used
X Burger	80%	52%	80% of the food must be X
Economy X Burger	60%	39%	60% of the food must be X
Hamburger	80%	52%	All pork and/or beef
Chopped X	90%	59%	-
Corned X	120%	115%	All the meat must be X
Luncheon X	80%	52%	-
Pork Sausage, Link, Chipolatas, Sausage Meat	65%	32.5%	80% of the meat must be pork
Liver/Tongue sausage	50%	25%	30% of the meat must be liver/tongue
X Sausage, Link, Chipolatas, Sausage Meat	50%	25%	If X is beef, 50% of meat must be beef. If X is any other meat, 80% of the meat must be X
X Pate	70%	35%	X must characterise the food
X Paste	70%	46%	X must characterise the food
X Spread	70%	46%	70% of the food must be X

Table B

Meat Pies etc	Meat Content Cooked Uncooked	Lean Meat content Cooked Uncooked
X Pie, Game Pie:-above 200g 100g to 200g less than 100g	25% 21% 21% 18% 19% 16%	12.5% 10.5% 10.5% 9% 9.5% 8%
Vegetable and Meat Pies	10% 8%	5% 4%
Meat and Something Else Pies	12.5% 10.5%	6.25% 5.25%
Pasty, Bridie, Sausage Roll	12.5% 10.5%	6.25% 5.25%
Scottish/Scotch Pie	20% 17%	10% 8.5%

NOTES
a) the letter X represents a named type of meat, or the word meat'.

b) all references to pies also apply to puddings

Uncooked Meat Products

Certain parts of the carcase of mammalian species may not be used in uncooked meat products ie; brains, feet, small and large intestine, lungs, oesophagus, rectum, spinal cord, spleen, stomach, testicles, udder. Note also the banned material in the following paragraph.

Specified Risk Material

The sale of SRM or any food containing it is banned for human consumption as is its use or sale in the preparation of food for human consumption. For bovine animals SRM varies according to whether it is UK or non UK and its age but generally includes, skull including brain and eyes, tonsils, spinal cord, thymus, spleen and intestines. For sheep and goats there are also differences for age, UK and non UK animals, but generally SRM includes skull including brain and eyes, tonsils, spinal cord and spleen.

Additives

The types, and amounts of additives, such as colours and preservatives that can be used in meat products are strictly controlled. Some are banned whereas for others only permitted additives may be used. Please ask for further details.

Minced Meat

There is no standard prescribed by law but it is generally accepted that it should not contain more than 20% fat. If qualified by words such as lean or extra lean a fat content considerably less than this would be expected. Where a particular meat is named eg Minced beef, there should be no other meats present. The use of additives in minced meat is prohibited.

October 2000

North Yorkshire County Council

Northumberland County Council

Lancashire County Council

West Yorkshire Trading Standards

Durham County Council

Cumbria County Council