4. Labeling Requirements

Meat Products
EU

This section provides information on labeling requirements and the label approval process.

4.1 Mandatory Labeling Parameters

Please refer to Section 4.1 of the "General Foods" guidebook of the European Union (EU). Additionally, the below mandatory parameters apply to the category of "Meat Products": 

The indication of origin is currently mandatory for unprocessed beef and beef products (e.g. minced beef) [1].

Identification mark for meat products:

Products of animal origin (e.g., frozen and fried meat, frozen and fried cheese), must have an identification mark/health mark applied in compliance with the following main provisions (Article 5 and Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 [2]).

1. The identification mark must be applied before the product leaves the establishment.
2. However, a new mark need not be applied to a product unless its packaging and/or wrapping is removed or it is further processed in another establishment, in which case the new mark must indicate the approval number of the establishment where these operations take place.
3. An identification mark is not necessary for eggs in respect of which Regulation (EC) No 1907/90 (1) lays down requirements concerning labeling or marking.
4. The mark must be legible and indelible, and the characters easily decipherable. It must be clearly displayed for the competent authorities.
5. The mark must indicate the name of the country in which the establishment is located, which may be written out in full or shown as a two-letter code in accordance with the relevant ISO standard. In the case of Member States, however, these codes are BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, GR, ES, FR, HR, IE, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE and UK(NI).
6. The mark must indicate the approval number of the establishment. If an establishment manufactures both foods to which this Regulation applies and food to which it does not, the food business operator may apply the same identification mark to both types of food.
7. When applied in an establishment located within the Community, the mark must be oval in shape and include the abbreviation CE, EC, EF, EG, EK, EO, EY, ES, EÜ, EK, EB, EZ, or WE. Those abbreviations must not be included in marks applied on products imported into the Community from establishments located outside the Community.

Further provisions on the method of marking are provided in Annex II of EU Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

4.2 Languages

Please refer to Section 4.2 of the "General Foods" guidebook of the European Union (EU).

4.3 Mandatory Information on Stickers

Please refer to Section 4.3 of the "General Foods" guidebook of the European Union (EU).

4.4 Product Legal Name

Please refer to Section 4.4 of the "General Foods" guidebook of the European Union (EU).

4.5 Product-specific Labeling Statements

N/A

4.6 Authority Approval

N/A

4.7 Additional Notes on Labeling

Please refer to Section 4.7 of the "General Foods" guidebook of the European Union (EU) for additional notes on the:

1. Presentation of mandatory particulars
2. Voluntary information
3. Labeling of organic food
4. Labeling relating to recycling
5. Labeling of Halal, Kosher, Vegan

4.8 References

1. Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32000R1760  

2. Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02004R0853-20230215