2 CRAFTBUTCHER l MARCH 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS
CONFUSION ON USE- BY DATES CONTINUES ON
COMMENT
WITH product recalls and reports about Illegal slaughtering adding to winter gloom. National President John Mettrick turns two negatives into a positive. Appearing on the BBC
Countryfile programme and writing to Environment Secretary Michael Gove. Mr Mettrick points to increased costs and red tape for the reduction in numbers of rural abattoirs. Emphasising the benefits
of a short supply chain from Farmer to Butcher to Customer. John Mettrick asks Mr Gove to help to improve the viability of low throughput plants by moving antemortem inspection from Official Veterinarians onto operators. Tereby reducing costs both for regulator and regulated. Also liſting winter
gloom, we can look forward to eight very talented young apprentices going head to head in the 2018 Premier Young Butcher competition as well as butchers from across the UK demonstrating their skills in the 22 category National Meat Products Competition at Foodex next month. n
ROGER KELSEY Editor
CONTACT DETAILS
Editor ROGER KELSEY roger@nfmſ
t.co.uk
Deputy Editor JAYNE COTTRELL jayne@nfmſ
t.co.uk
Craſt Butcher is published 10 times a year by the National Federation of Meat & Food Traders and is circulated to over 1100 businesses in the UK
Membership Enquiries T: 01892 541412 E: info@nfmſ
t.co.uk
Jason Feeney
the 3rd February we emailed all members with a brief
update on the meat recall situation and we also supplied a quick butchers guide to shelf life in relation to the “10-Day Rule.” At the time of writing
this guide is still relevant. However, clarification on one or two areas is expected to be forthcoming from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which may require an update to the guide. We will alert all members by email if this happens. Please contact Richard
Stevenson at Federation HQ if you would like a copy of the guide or if you have any
companies appear to have only fallen foul of the 10- day rule.
queries. Tel: 01892 541412 Email: richard@nfmſ
t.co.uk. Although the meat recalls
in January and February only affected large cutting plants/ catering butchers the resulting focus on meat use-by dates makes it highly likely that local authorities will be placing a greater emphasis on this issue.
WHY THE CONFUSION? • Te recalls have created uncertainty because full details of alleged offences are not available. FSA say they cannot give details in case of further enforcement action. FSA Chief Executive Jason Feeney however assured industry that his organisation have acted fairly and proportionately.
• Russel Hume is said to have been under investigation for several serious hygiene offences whereas other
THE 10-DAY RULE IN A NUTSHELL
Te guidance states that all food that is vacuum packed or modified atmosphere packed must be limited to a 10-day shelf life unless other controlling factors are in place. Te main controlling factor is keeping c. In other words, you can
the food below 30
completely ignore the guidance if you keep the food constantly below 30
c. You will have
to ensure of course that this limit is robustly applied and that records are precise and up to date. Other main controlling factors are pH
• Use-by date legislation and guidance has always been very general in nature and has avoided specific prescription.
• Use-before dates or “durability indications” are governed by three different sets of legislation, which are Food Labelling, Food Safety and Temperature Control. Tese are overseen by three different government departments Defra, FSA and Department of Health.
• Several different date requirements exist depending on how the food is sold.
• Whereas loose sales in a butcher’s shop do not require use-by date notification to the customer, nevertheless EHO’s will still expect some sort of
values, water activity, salt content and use of preservatives. Tese factors usually relate to cured, dried or fermented-type products. EHO’s will usually accept these factors without too much question but some may request recipes/production methods or even scientific verification. Give us a call if you encounter any problems, or adopt the 30
c
limit. Te full name of the FSA guidance is
“Te safety and shelf-life of vacuum packed and modified atmosphere packed chilled foods with respect to non-proteolytic Clostridium Botulinum.” Available on the FSA website:
www.food.gov.uk or just google.
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ISSN 2051-1949 ©NFMFT 2018
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