Freezing date on meat labels required

02 January 2014

According to the new European labelling regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011, entering into force 13 December 2014, it will be mandatory to state the freezing date on all consumer packaging containing frozen meat. This was written by ministers Dijksma and Schippers in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives dated 4 December 2013.
In case of repeated freezing, the date of the first time of freezing should be stated. This provides the consumer with information on how long a product has been frozen. Products that are sold defrosted have to be marked with ‘defrosted’ on the label.
EU member states are free to expand the regulation to include non-prepackaged products.
Click here for the letter written by minister Schippers (45 kB, in Dutch).
Click here for the regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (1.16 MB).

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