1. Ind- 2013 0561 E En 20131031 Projet
1. ------IND- 2013 0561 E-- EN------20131031 ------PROJET
DRAFT ROYAL DECREE APPROVING THE QUALITY STANDARD FOR MEAT PRODUCTS.
Spain's interest is in producing and preparing good quality and competitive foods, for which reason it has placed the updating of the quality standards and technical sanitary regulations for prepared food as a priority.
The authorisation for the basic normative development, in addition to the Spanish Constitution, is found in the Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 28 January 2002, establishing the general principles and requirements for food legislation. The European Authority on Food Safety is created and procedures related to food safety are established that provide for the protection of the interests of the consumer among other things, for which purpose it is established that the food legislation shall have the purpose of protecting the interests of the consumers and offering them a basis to choose the foods that they consume with knowledge of the background, also having the objective of preventing fraudulent or deceitful practices, the adulteration of foods and any other practice that can deceive the consumer.
This Regulation has been developed, among other standards, by Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, 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, Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption and Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules, which ensures that all foods that are commercialised are safe for consumption. However, it is not only safety that the consumer demands, but also knowledge of the quality of the foods that they consume and the ability to compare and choose the food that is most suited to their needs with relation to the price of the product. It is also the industrial and commercial aspect from an economic perspective and fair competition in the market, for which a categorisation of products by properties and qualities or categories that make them comparable to satisfy the needs of consumers, and characterisation of the products for the companies to place their production or preparation in the section of the market that they wish without experiencing unfair competition.
On the other hand, we cannot forget the Spanish Food Code whose Chapter X is dedicated to meat and meat products, which are regulated in this standard, nor can we forget a profuse and varied legislation that is also intended to be codified in this standard, bringing with it simplification, greater comprehension and transparency, not including any case of more restrictive specifications than those already existing, even removing some that do not currently represent useful information about the product in order to determine its quality.
All of this has served as a philosophy to develop this quality standard together with the provisions of the manufacturing sector.
This quality standard that is approved by this Royal Decree is directed at meat products that are commercialised in Spain, collecting the characterisation of the meat products based on the thermal treatment carried out, the composition and quality factors, the labelling and the physical and chemical properties. It also provides the possibility of including descriptive denominations of new meat products that are the product of technological innovation which do not meet the parameters established in the standard and that have their place in the market, but cannot be confused with other parametrised and regulated products that the manufacturing industry generically, as well as the consumer, identifies with a specific preparation and properties that cannot be usurped.
The standard also contains a list of meat products that, as they contain physical and chemical properties that are specific and different from those regulated for the products of the same type, have become traditional products, with established denominations for their use. Due to the broad tradition existing in Spain for the preparation of meat products, as well as the large diversification of these, this list does not have a limiting character and can be updated with traditional products that have not been contained, based on requests made by the sector.
In addition, in 2008, with the establishment of traceability systems in companies, in compliance with the above-mentioned Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, establishing procedures related to food safety and the use of new technologies, the system for labelling fresh hams and paletas [pork shoulder, hereinafter ‘paleta’], which was being carried out, had been made obsolete and it was advisable to make it more flexible in order to favour innovation.
In addition, it had been confirmed in the market that there were cured hams and paletas that were labelled using indications qualifying the product, giving it an added value, that have varied preparation times for one indication, which could cause difficulties for the consumer when choosing their purchase and also unfair competition among operators, for which reason it was advisable to establish the regulation of the preparation periods for the use of certain optional indications on the label. These indications are not a part of the product name, but form optional indications that the manufacturer can voluntarily include in the label.
All of this was contained in Royal Decree 1079/2008, of 27 June, regulating the marking of hams and paletas and the preparation periods for the use of certain indications on the label, which are advisable to be derogated and their content included in this standard for the purposes of legislative economy, and given that it affects the optional marking and labelling of hams and paletas, which are products included in the scope of application of this quality standard.
The adoption of this basic normative regulation by royal decree, taking its place in the authorisation contained in Article 149.1, Rule 13 of the Constitution, is based on the markedly technical character of the subject of the regulation, in conformity with the doctrine of the Constitutional Tribunal.
The autonomous communities and the sectors affected were consulted when preparing this standard, having informed the Interministerial Commission for Food Regulation.
This provision has been subjected to the procedure provided in Directive 98/34/EC, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 22 June, establishing an information procedure in the area of technical standards and regulations with relation to the information society services, and Royal Decree 1337/1999, of 31 July, regulating the referral of information in the area of technical rules and regulations and regulations related to the information society services, and incorporating these directives into the Spanish legal framework.
By virtue of which, at the proposal of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, following approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administration, in accordance with the Council of State and following deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting of...
THE FOLLOWING IS DECREED
Single article. Approval of the quality standard on meat products.
The quality standard for meat products that are commercialised in Spain is approved, whose text is included as follows.
Sole additional provision. Mutual recognition clause.
The requirements of the quality standard that is approved shall not apply to meat products manufactured or sold legally in accordance with other specifications in other Member States of the European Union, nor to meat products originating in countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and contracting parties to the Agreement of the European Economic Area (EEA), nor to countries which have a customs association agreement with the European Union.
Sole transitory provision. Marketing exemption.
Products that are the subject of the quality standard being approved, that are prepared before the date of entry into force of this Royal Decree and that do not meet its provisions can be marketed until their supply is exhausted, providing that they comply with the current provisions before its entry into force, including the labelling.
Repealing provision. Repealed regulations.
Any provisions of equal or lesser scope which run counter to the provisions of this Royal Decree are hereby repealed, and, in particular:
- Order of 7 February 1980, approving the quality standard for dried raw-cured meat products in the internal market;
- Order of 5 November 1981, approving the generic quality standard for dried thermally treated meat products;
- Order of 5 November 1981, approving the quality standard for corned loin;
- Order of 5 November 1981, approving the quality standard for pickled pork loin;
- Order of 5 November 1981, approving the quality standard for raw and pickled meat products;
- Order of 29 June 1983, approving the quality standards for cooked ham, corned ham, cooked paleta, corned paleta, cooked pork loin and corned pork loin. Amended by the Order of 6 April 1984;
- Order of 29 October 1986, approving the general quality standard for salted bacon and cured pancetta for the internal market;
- Order of 6 April 1987, approving the quality standard for Malaga salchichón [a salami-type sausage, hereinafter ‘salchichón’];
- Royal Decree 1079/2008, of 27 June, regulating the labelling of hams and paletas and the preparation periods for the use of certain indications on the label.
First final provision. Jurisdiction.
This Royal Decree is issued in conformity with the provisions of Article 149.1.13 of the Constitution, that attributes exclusive competency to the State in the area of bases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity.
Second final provision. Entry into force.
This Royal Decree shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.
Given in Madrid, onofof 2013
QUALITY STANDARD OF MEAT PRODUCTS
PRELIMINARY TITLE
Purpose and scope of application
Article 1. Purpose.
This quality standard establishes the characterisation of the meat products based on the treatment to which they have been subjected, the composition and quality factors, the labelling and, in particular, the marking and identification of hams and paletas for the control of the preparation period, auto-control and traceability, as well as Annex I with the physical and chemical characteristics to be met, excluding any hygiene and sanitary aspect.
It also includes Annex II with traditional meat products and names established for their use that are non-limiting and can be expanded on request by the sectors concerned.
Article 2. Scope of application.
The quality standard is applicable to all meat products prepared and marketed in Spain, without prejudice to the provisions of the mutual recognition clause.
Meat products that are destined for export and do not comply with the quality standard will not be applicable and will have the word “Export” written in clear letters. These products cannot be marketed or consumed in Spain.
Article 3. Definitions.
For the purpose of this standard, the following definitions are included:
a) Meat products:
These are food products that are totally or partially prepared with meats or offal of the animals listed in Point 1.1 of Annex I of Regulation 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, establishing specific standards for the hygiene of foods of animal origin and subjected to specific operations before their readiness for consumption.
These will be prepared meats or meat products in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Community legislation.
b) Offal:
Edible parts, not included in the channel, of animals listed in Point 1.1 of Annex 1 of Regulation 853/2004.
c) Pastes, creams, foams and mousses:
These are products prepared from items listed in this standard to which other ingredients, condiments and additives have been added, and which have been subjected to grinding conditions to give them a typical texture and that are denominated pastes, creams, foams or mousses based on the consistency, whether of greater or lesser density.
d) Transformation
Any action that substantially alters the initial product, including thermal treatment, smoking, curing, ageing, marinating, extraction, extrusion or a combination of these procedures.
e) Stuffing:
Introduction of a meat product into a natural or artificial casing making a stuffing.
f) Natural casing:
Casing obtained from the small and large intestines of bovine, ovine, caprine, porcine or equine species and hunting animals raised for food purposes and bovine and porcine oesophagus and bladders that act as technological container for food products after the necessary manipulations.
g) Artificial casing:
A type of casing made for its use in the preparation of sausages, which shall be made of collagen or cellulose or authorised polymeric materials.
h) Salting:
The incorporation of salt into meat to facilitate its dehydration and favour preservation.
i) Brine:
The solution of edible salt in drinking water, possibly including sugar, vinegar, other condiments, spices and other substances.
j) Soaked in brine
Treatment with brine.
k) Cured:
Treatment with salt, which can be accompanied with the use of nitrites, nitrates and other components or a combination of these, which must be due to technological necessity, forming compounds from the combination of these preservatives with the proteins of the meat. The treatment can be made with the dry application to the surface of the meat, to the curing mixture, with its immersion into the curing solution or by injection of the curing solution into the piece of meat.
l) Marinated and pickled:
Maceration treatment of the meats with a mixture of salts, condiments and spices and if applicable water, fat, wine, oil or other liquids, which can be done by application to the surface of the meat, by injection or by immersion.
m) Aired:
Short term drying and ageing treatment to allow a process of fermentation, desiccation or both, that gives the particular organoleptic properties of the product.
n) Cured and aged
Curing treatment with later desiccation in ambient conditions over the course of a slow and gradual reduction of humidity that are adequate to cause the development of the natural fermentation or enzymatic processes necessary to grant the characteristic organoleptic properties and guarantee their stability during the commercialisation process, giving rise to what is traditionally known as a cured meat product.
o) Fermentation:
Stage of the preparation process of cured and aged meat products in which the development of the natural microbial flora, with or without additional indicator culture added, that metabolises the sugars and produces lactic acid which reduces the pH of the meat and makes it develop some typical sensory properties favouring its preservation.
p) Smoked:
Treatment by the action of compounds from the combustion of authorised woods and aromatic herbs.
q) Pasteurisation:
Process destroying the vegetative forms of pathogenic micro-organisms of foods, and destroying or deactivating almost all of the harmless flora, subjecting the foods to variable temperatures, based on the time of treatment, such that they do not undergo modifications to their composition and their preservation at a suitable temperature for a period of time no less than 48 hours is ensured.
r) Sterilisation:
Process destroying all life forms of pathogen or non-pathogen micro-organisms, at suitable temperatures, applied once or with tyndallisation. In the industrial food environment, the process of destroying or deactivating all forms of life for a certain period of time of micro-organisms that are capable of producing alterations in the foods in normal storage conditions is also considered to be sterilisation.
s) Product name:
The name of the food, which can be the legal name, the customary name or the descriptive name.
t) Name established for use:
Customary name defined in Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the food information given to the consumer.
SECTION ONE
Description of the meat products:
CHAPTER I
Heat treated
Article 4. Definition.
Heat treated meat products are considered to be those defined in Article 3a) prepared from meat to which blood, fat or offal can be added, which have been subjected to a heat treatment during its manufacture that is sufficient to reach a partial or total coagulation of the proteins in its inside. They may also be subjected to smoking and ageing treatments.
Products prepared with new treatment techniques arising from technological innovation that offer effects that are scientifically demonstrated to be equivalent, at least, to the traditional sterilisation and pasteurisation techniques may belong to this group, without prejudice to the current legislation.
Article 5. Classification.
Based on the thermal treatment used in its preparation, the heat treated meat products can be:
1. Sterilised meat products;
2. Pasteurised meat products;
3. Meat products with incomplete thermal treatment.
Article 6. Sterilised meat products:
1. This group includes meat products that are subjected to thermal treatment or equivalent, which do not require refrigeration for their preservation.
2. According to the method of obtaining the meat pieces, ground meat or from blood, fat or offal, they are divided into:
a) Pieces: This group includes products made up of anatomically identifiable pieces of meat or their parts in which the bundles of muscle corresponding to the normal butcher's cuts are recognisable, that are subjected to salting and later massaging or rest, followed by moulding to give it a suitable shape and a thermal treatment or equivalent.
This group includes, but is not limited to, cooked ham and other sterilised meat pieces in preserve.
b) Chopped or ground meats: Products in this group are prepared from pieces of meat that are not anatomically identifiable or from meat or meat and fat that has been subjected to a coarse or fine grinding process, or an intense grinding process forming a fine and homogeneous paste, and later drying or packaging. The meats can be all of the same kind or a mixture of meats of different origins, characteristics, anatomical part and animal species.