Meat Origin Labeling: Free PDF Guide

What are the mandatory requirements for meat origin labeling? 🥩

As a professional in the food service industry or an artisan butcher-delicatessen, you are required to display the origin of the meats you serve or sell.

Since 2022, the regulations have changed twice! Follow this guide to understand what you need to indicate on your mandatory meat origin labels to stay compliant:

For which meats is origin labeling mandatory? 🐄🐖🐑🐔

Until now, you were already required to display the origin of your beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, whether raw or frozen.

The obligation to display the origin of meats other than beef is linked to the Decree of January 27, 2022. This decree states that the labeling of the origin of meats (beef, poultry, sheep, lamb, pork) served in out-of-home catering must mention both the country of breeding and the country of slaughter, whether the meat is fresh refrigerated, frozen, or deep-frozen.

This new requirement responds to a strong consumer demand for transparency and traceability regarding the origin of the products they consume.

This mandatory labeling applies to both on-site consumption and take-away.

Which types of preparations are subject to this mandatory labeling?

Until now, only raw meats purchased were subject to mandatory origin labeling—for example, minced steak, rib steak, poultry, or roast.

Since March 4, 2024, a new decree on mandatory meat origin labeling has extended your labeling obligations: You must also display the origin of meats included in preparations made from pre-prepared or cooked meats.

For example: nuggets, sausages, charcuterie, ravioli, Bolognese sauce, quiche with bacon, stuffing, etc.

Download your free PDF guide for meat origin labeling ⤵️

We are pleased to offer you, for your restaurant or butcher shop, a printable chart for meat origin labeling: download your free PDF meat origin labeling guide by filling out the form below. 📝

What to Present During a Health Inspection? 🛡️

Regarding meat traceability, you have several obligations:

• Traceability obligation
• Obligation to display the origin

What are my traceability obligations?

You must be able to trace the path of your meats from the moment of supply until they are served to your guest or customer.

Specifically, you must, among other things:

1- Upon receipt inspection: when you receive goods, you have a traceability obligation. You must keep your delivery note. This allows you to track the date of receipt of the goods in your restaurant or butcher shop, as well as the quantities received and product information to identify them. You may keep your delivery notes either physically or digitally using an HACCP application. Regardless of the storage method or organization, the important thing is the result: being able to trace the origin of your meats.

2- During production: when preparing or serving, you must keep the traceability label information for all the ingredients you use. Be especially careful with sensitive products, as meat is considered sensitive, and minced meat even more so. The information to keep from your traceability labels must at least include:

1. 1. Product name
   2. Batch number (often related to the use-by date)
   3. Health stamp identifying the production laboratory or slaughterhouse
   4. Meat origin if indicated
   5. Use-by date (to prove the product sold was not expired)

Keeping the classic barcode (EAN 13) is unnecessary as it provides no traceability or origin information.

3- During storage of ingredients and meat preparations:

1. 1. If you have unpackaged products: you must label their new container with a secondary use-by date label indicating Who, What, date of unpackaging, and secondary use-by date. For example, for sensitive meat such as minced beef, the use-by date will be the next day (J+1).
   2. For opened product packages: you must label the opened packaging with Who, What, opening date, and secondary use-by date. The secondary use-by date is based on the manufacturer’s instructions.
   3. For mise en place or preparation: likewise, label your productions with Who, What, production date, and secondary use-by date. For homemade preparations, regulations require a maximum retention of 3 days without microbiological analysis. Minced meat has a maximum use-by date of 1 day (J+1) at a storage temperature of max 2°C. For vacuum-packed meats, regulations do not specify details; you can refer to good industry practices or consult your vacuum packaging machine supplier.

Retention period: Traceability information for products with a short use-by date must be kept for 1 year. For products with longer shelf life (minimum durability date, e.g. canned or frozen products), it is 5 years. You must keep your records either on paper or using an HACCP application. With Octopus HACCP, you can save receipt controls, photograph and archive all your traceability labels automatically, and print secondary use-by date labels with one click.

How to Display the Origin of Meats?

There is no mandated format for the display. What matters is that consumers can easily access the information. You can use the free downloadable PDF poster on meat origin available by filling out the form above, or display the information on a chalkboard.

You can also indicate the origin in your menus (be careful if origins change during the season) or on labels when products are sold pre-packaged.

During hygiene inspections, the health authority will verify consistency between your supplies and the displayed information. Remember to update them regularly!

What Are the Penalties for Failing to Display Meat Origin? ⚖️

During health or fraud inspections, you may be fined for various reasons regarding mandatory meat origin display:

1/ You do not display the origin of the meats

2/ The displayed information does not correspond to reality: this constitutes misleading information. For example, stating “Origin: France” when the meat actually comes from Poland.

3/ The displayed information is incomplete. For example, you display the origin of beef but not poultry or prepared meat products.

In these cases, depending on the circumstances and any other violations, you may face a minimum fine of €1,500.

Exception: The only exception for displaying the origin of prepared or processed meat products is when this information is not provided on the packaging of the product you purchased (you cannot invent it).

The entire Octopus HACCP team hopes this clarifies your obligations regarding meat origin labeling!

Need support with HACCP? Our team can help you find the HACCP application that fits your needs. Contact us!

Contact Octopus HACCP

We Help You Get Ready for Health Inspections

With the Octopus HACCP app, digitize your hygiene records easily.

• Simply take photos of your traceability labels
• Monitor the temperatures of your cold storage units using our connected sensors
• Easily implement and track your cleaning schedules

With our app, access all your data in one click via the health inspection button.