German pizzas break UK shelf-life rule

Pizzas imported from German convenience food group Freiberger have sparked industry cries that the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) 10-day shelf-life guidance for vacuum packed chilled food is being inconsistently applied.

The pizzas have a 17-day shelf life, yet little is currently being done to clamp down on them, because Germany operates under different shelf-life guidance.

However, Kaarin Goodburn, general secretary of the Chilled Food Association said: “Because the 10-day rule is guidance, not legislation, UK companies comply with it and other countries do not know it exists. This compromises the competitiveness of UK products.

“What is the point of FSA guidance? There is a point if there is a food safety purpose, and if there is, it should relate to other countries too.”

In theory, the home authority of a retailer selling vacuum-packed chilled products with a shelf life exceeding 10 days could impose fines on retailers and manufacturers and pull them from sale. However, in practice, while such action was taken for UK products, imports from other EU Member States, such as the chilled pizzas, often slipped through the net.

“We’re not averse to guidance,” said Goodburn. “But it needs to be applied equitably.”