The rules would take effect on January 1, 2014, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said yesterday (December 19).
The shift means meat labelled as lean would only be allowed to contain up to 7% fat and up to 12% collagen or gristle. Current rules allow for up to 15% fat and 15% collagen or gristle.
BMPA director Stephen Rossides said: “These provisions ensure that consumers have the information they seek, and they enable UK meat companies to satisfy the range of minced meat choices that consumers expect.”
Low fat guarantee
Food and farming minister George Eustice said consumers would be guaranteed low-fat minced meat for the first time. Shoppers would also have clear information on minced meat content, “enabling them to make informed choices”, he explained.
“Minced meat will be clearly labelled with the percentage of fat, empowering people to make more informed choices about what they buy.”
UK businesses could keep making minced meat products with fat and gristle levels higher than the new limits if they were clearly labelled with the percentages of each, DEFRA added.
Meanwhile, food labelling is the subject of the Food Manufacture Group’s next webinar. The free, one-hour webinar – The Food Information Regulation: the way forward – will be staged on Thursday February 20 in association with law firm DWF. To register, please email Michael.stones@wrbm.com.