# The Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

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N.I.

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

# 2014 No. 285

Food

# The Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

Made

18th November 2014

Coming into operation

13th December 2014

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety F1 makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 15(1)(a), (e) and (f), 25(1)(a), (2)(e) and                           (3), 26(3) and 47(2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 F2.                        

In accordance with Article 47(3A) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, it has had regard to relevant advice given                           by the Food Standards Agency.                        

As required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002F3 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing                           the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety, there has been open and transparent                           public consultation during the preparation and evaluation of these Regulations.                        

F1Formerly the Department of Health and Social Services; see S.I. 1999/283 (N.I.1) Article 3(6)

F2S.I. 1991/762 (N.I.7) as amended by S.I. 1996/1663 (N.I.12), **paragraphs 26 to 42** of Schedule 5 and Schedule 6 to the Food Standards Act 1999 c.28 and S.R. 2004 Nos. 482 and 505

F3OJ No L 31, 1.2.2002, p1, last amended by Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No                              L 189, 27.6.2014, p1)

## Citation and commencementN.I.

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 and come into operation                     on 13th December 2014.                  

## InterpretationN.I.

2.  In these Regulations—                  

“EEA State” means a Member State (other than the United Kingdom), Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein;                  

“FIC” means Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 F4 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004[F5as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council] ;                  

“ingredient” has the meaning given in Article 2(2)(f) of FIC;                  

“meat” means the skeletal muscles of mammalian and bird species recognised as fit for human consumption with naturally included                     or adherent tissue but does not include mechanically separated meat as defined in point 1.14 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin F6;                  

“regulated product” means a food that contains one of the following as an ingredient (whether or not the food also contains any other ingredient)—                  

meat;

mechanically separated meat as defined in point 1.14 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council [F7as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1981] ;                           

the heart, the tongue, the muscles of the head (other than the masseters), the carpus, the tarsus, or the tail of any mammalian                              or bird species recognised as fit for human consumption;                           

“the Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;                  

“sell” includes offer or expose for sale and includes have in possession for sale; and                  

“uncooked”, in relation to a food, means a food that has not been subjected to a process of cooking throughout the whole food so that                     the food is sold on the basis that it will need further cooking before consumption.                  

F4OJ No L 304, 22.11.2011, p 18, last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 78/2014 (OJ No L 27, 30.1.2014, p 7)

F5Words in reg. 2 inserted (11.2.2019) by The Food (Miscellaneous Amendments and Revocations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/5), regs. 1(1), **30(2)(a)**

F6OJ No L 139, 30.4.2004, p 55, last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 633/2014 (OJ No L 175, 14.6.2014, p 6)

F7Words in reg. 2 inserted (11.2.2019) by The Food (Miscellaneous Amendments and Revocations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/5), regs. 1(1), **30(2)(b)**

## ScopeN.I.

3.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), these Regulations apply to food that is ready for delivery to the final consumer or to                     a mass caterer.                  

(2) These Regulations do not apply in respect of any food—

(a)that is not intended for sale for human consumption; or                  

(b)to which the Processed Cereal-based Foods and Baby Foods for Infants and Young Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003                        F8 apply.                  

(3) These Regulations do not apply to any product that is brought into Northern Ireland from another part of the United Kingdom,                     an EEA State or from the Republic of Turkey in which it was lawfully marketed.                  

(4) In this regulation—

“final consumer” has the meaning given in point 18 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing                     the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety; and                  

“mass caterer” has the meaning given in Article 2(2)(d) of FIC.                  

F8S.R. 2003 No.530

## Restrictions on the use of certain namesN.I.

4.—(1) A person must not sell or advertise a regulated product using a name that appears in column 1 of the table of Schedule 1 as                     the name of the food, whether or not qualified by other words, unless the food complies with the appropriate requirements                     in columns 2 and 3 of that table.                  

(2) A person must not sell or advertise a food using a name that appears in column 1 of the table in Schedule 1, whether or not                     qualified by other words, in such a way as to suggest, either expressly or by implication, that the product designated by                     that name is an ingredient of the food, unless that product is an ingredient of the food and that product complied with the                     appropriate requirements in columns 2 and 3 of the table in Schedule 1 at the time it was used as an ingredient in the preparation                     of the food.                  

## Parts of the carcase in uncooked regulated productsN.I.

5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), a person must not sell an uncooked regulated product if any part of a carcase specified in paragraph                     (2) has been used as an ingredient in the preparation of that product.                  

(2) The specified parts of a carcase are the brains, feet, large intestine, lungs, oesophagus, rectum, small intestine, spinal                     cord, spleen, stomach, testicles and udder from any mammalian species.                  

(3) The prohibition in paragraph (1) does not extend to the use of a mammalian large or small intestine solely as a sausage skin.

(4) In this regulation “sausage” includes chipolata, frankfurter, link, salami and any similar product.                  

## EnforcementN.I.

6.  It is the duty of each district council within its district to enforce these Regulations.                  

## Improvement notice – application of Article 9 of the OrderN.I.

7.—(1) Article 9(1) and (2) of the Order (improvement notices) apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the following modification.                  

(2) For paragraph (1), substitute—

“(1)If an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is failing to comply with regulations 4(1), (2)                        or 5(1) of the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014, the authorised officer may, by a notice                        served on that person (in this Order referred to as an “improvement notice”)—                  

(a)state the officer's grounds for believing that the person is failing to comply with the relevant provision;                  

(b)specify the matters which constitute the person's failure so to comply;                  

(c)specify the measures which, in the officer's opinion, the person must take in order to secure compliance; and                  

(d)require the person to take those measures, or measures that are at least equivalent to them, within such a period (not being                           less than 14 days) as may be specified in the notice.”.                  

## Appeals against an improvement noticeN.I.

8.—(1) Article 37 of the Order (appeals) applies for the purposes of these Regulations as modified by paragraphs (2) and (3).                  

(2) For paragraph (1) substitute “ Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of an authorised officer to serve an improvement notice under Article 9(1) as                        applied and modified by regulation 7 of the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 may appeal to                        a court of summary jurisdiction. ”.                  

(3) In paragraph (2A)(b) for “(1)(a)”, substitute “ (1) as applied by regulation 7 of the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014, ”.                  

(4) Article 38 of the Order (appeals against improvement notices) applies for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification                     that “ as applied by regulation 8(1) of the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 ” is inserted after “ improvement notice ” in each place occurring.                  

## Application and modification of other provisions of the OrderN.I.

9.  The provisions of the Order specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 apply for the purposes of these Regulations with                     modifications specified in column 2 of that table.                  

## RevocationsN.I.

10.  The following Regulations are revoked—                  

(a)the Meat Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 F9;                  

(b)the Meat Products (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 F10; and                  

(c)regulation 18(4) of the Food Additives Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 F11.                  

F9S.R. 2004 No. 13, as amended by S.R. 2008 No.82

F10S.R. 2008 No. 82

F11S.R. 2009 No. 416

Sealed with the official seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on 18th November 2014.

L.S.

Julie Thompson

 A senior officer of the

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

 Regulation 4

## SCHEDULE 1N.I.Reserved Descriptions

### 

In this Schedule—

“cured meat” means a food consisting of meat and curing salt, whether or not the food also contains any other ingredient;                  

“curing salt” means—                  

sodium chloride, if used in sufficient quantity to have a significant preserving effect on the food;

potassium chloride, if used in sufficient quantity to have a significant preserving effect on the food;

a combination of any of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrite as authorised                              for use in Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives F12[F13as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/1497] , except for a combination of sodium chloride and potassium chloride; or                           

a combination of sodium chloride and potassium chloride, if used in sufficient quantity to have a significant preserving effect                              on the food.                           

### NotesN.I.

1.  In relation to items 4, 5 and 6, the percentages in column 2 are based on the weight of the raw meat used to make the food                     (“the raw meat ingredient”) as a percentage of the weight of the cooked finished product. In relation to the other items,                     the percentages are based on the weight of the raw meat ingredient used to make the food as a percentage of the total weight                     of all the ingredients used to make the food (including the raw meat ingredient) at the time of their use as an ingredient.                  

2.  The quantity of meat specified in the table is to be determined taking into account the provisions relating to total fat and                     connective tissue content in point 17 of Part B of Annex VII to FIC, including any downward adjustment needed in a case where                     the total fat and connective tissue content in the regulated product exceeds the values indicated in the table in point 17                     of Part B of Annex VII to FIC.N.I.

 Regulation 9

## SCHEDULE 2N.I.Application and modification of other provisions of the Order

## Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Meat Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (S.R. 2004 No. 13, as amended).

Regulation 3 sets out the scope of the Regulations.

The Regulations prohibit the use of specified names in the sale and advertising of regulated products if the products do not                        satisfy specific compositional requirements (regulation 4 and Schedule 1).                     

The Regulations prohibit, subject to an exception, the sale of uncooked regulated products which include among their ingredients                        specified parts of the carcase of any mammalian species of animal (regulation 5).                     

The Regulations impose an obligation on district councils to enforce the Regulations (regulation 6).

The Regulations apply Article 9(1) and (2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/762 (N.I.7) with modifications,                        enabling an improvement notice to be served to require compliance with regulations 4(1), (2) or 5(1) (regulation 7). The provisions,                        as applied, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence. In addition, the Regulations apply Article 37                        and 38 of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 with modifications, enabling a decision to serve an improvement notice                        to be appealed (regulation 8).                     

The provisions, as applied, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence**.**                     

The Regulations also apply certain other provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, with modifications (regulation                        9 and Schedule 2).                     

As well as revoking the Meat Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, the Regulations revoke the Meat Products (Amendment)                        Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. 2008 No. 82) and regulation 18(4) of the Food Additives Regulations (Northern Ireland)                        2009 (regulation 10).