Matured meats and transportation temperatures of meat, official controls

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The recent reform of Hygiene 2 Regulation (EC) No 853/04 has introduced new requirements regarding aged meats and the transport temperatures of meats – as seen (1) – the implications reflect on the methods of carrying out official controls.

On this occasion, it is useful to clarify the effective entry into force of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2024/1141, despite objections raised in the European Parliament which the Assembly rejected by a large majority.

1) Aged meats, the new microbiological safety requirements

Regulation (EU) No 2024/1141 has introduced new requirements to guarantee the microbiological safety of aged meats, starting from 9 November 2024. Specifically, beef subjected to dry aging is particular, is subject to the following preservation criteria:

-surface temperature between –0,5 and +3,0 °C

-relative humidity not exceeding 85%

-air flow between 0,2 and 0,5 m/s

– maximum period of 35 days, starting from the end of the stabilization period following slaughter.

The food business operators may, however, apply other combinations of surface temperature, relative humidity, air flow and time – as well as dry-aging meat of other species – provided they can demonstrate ‘to the satisfaction of the competent authority’ the equivalence of the guarantees on the meat safety.

1.1) Responsibilities and official controls

‘Food sector operators carrying out any stage of production, processing and distribution of food after primary production shall comply with the general hygiene requirements laid down in Annex II and any specific requirements provided in Regulation (EC) No 853/2004’. (2)

Official controls in restaurants, butchers’ shops and large-scale retail trade departments where there are ‘refrigerated display cabinets’ or rather maturing cabinets, must however include the verification of:

-thermometric probes, relative humidity detectors, controlled air flows and devices for sanitizing the air that comes into contact with the aging meat

-compliance with the requirements introduced by Regulation (EU) No 2024/1141 (see paragraph 1 above), or

-equivalent guarantee of safety of meat subjected to different storage conditions, as well as

-integration of appropiate self-control procedures.

2) Meat transport temperatures, official controls

The stricter safety requirements to be applied to the transport of meat, already defined for journeys lasting less than 60 hours, now also apply to short journeys (less than 30 hours) which were previously subject to looser limits. The new thresholds concern

– surface temperature of the meat and the loading compartment, and

-limits of surface contamination of pork meat.

The big news is represented by the definition of a standardized method for measuring the surface temperature of meat. The authorities responsible for official controls must therefore:

-use a probe thermometer, calibrated according to the ISO 13485 standard

-insert the probe into the meat at 5 points approximately 5 cm apart, at a depth of between 0,5 and 1 cm.

2.1) Scientific basis

The attention to the temperature requirements to be maintained during the transport of meat has a solid scientific basis in the following two EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) opinions:

Scientific Opinion on the public health risks related to the maintenance of the cold chain during storage and transport of meat. Part 1, meat of domestic ungulates (2014); (3)

-Growth of spoilage bacteria during storage and transport of meat (2016). (4) Both of these opinions were also the basis for the previous amendment of the Hygiene 2 Regulation, already in 2017. (5)

2.2) Food safety and transport, further insights

The scrupulous respect of temperatures and the hygiene of loading compartments are essential to contain surface microbial loads. The indications on the type and calibration of the thermometer to be used and on the points to be tested therefore offer a first useful clarification for official controls.

The evaluation of the transport compliance with food safety requirements should also consider other elements, such as the density of the load and the arrangement of the foodstuffs in the cargo compartment. This is because the temperature is not distributed uniformly, as shown in Figure 1.

 


Figure 1 – Trailer loading and front-to-rear temperature variations (6)

With the same maximum temperature set, it varies based on the number of present refrigerators, the speed of the air flow, and the position and temperature of the food.

3) Hygiene 2 Regulation, the reform opposed by some MEPs

The European Parliament had raised some hypothetical objections to Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2024/1141, in the scrutiny phase prior to its adoption, on the following grounds:

(a) Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 requires the Commission to consult EFSA on any issue related to its scope, whereas the delegated regulation at hand would have been adopted without prior consultation;

b) some traditional processing technologies, particularly with regard to the production of smoked salmon in some EU countries, involve processing at temperatures and/or times that are not in line with those indicated in the regulation. A change in the production process would imply greater burdens for producers, job looses, increased food waste and higher costs for consumers;

c) the transition time for the replacement of the CE acronym with the EU one, in the identification marks of production plants would be excessively short and would not allow the various sectors dealing with products of animal origin to adapt to the imposed changes. (7)

4) Regulation (EU) 2024/1141, the new provisions in force from 9 November 2024

The European Parliament’s draft resolution ​​rejected by its plenary assembly on April 11, 2024 with 403 votes against, 179 in favour and 28 abstentions (8) – called for the inapplicability of the regulation for the following reasons

The new rules– which, as we have seen, also concern mobile slaughterhouses, the processing times of frozen fishery products, evidence of pasteurisation of buffalo milk, the alteration of the smell of eggs (1)
are therefore:

-effective from 9 November 2024; and

-already included in the consolidated version of Reg. (EC) No 853/2004, available on the EUR-Lex portal. (9)

Dario Dongo and Sarah Lanzilli

Footnotes

(1) Dario Dongo, Sarah Lanzilli, Maria Ada Marzano. Aged meats, mobile slaughterhouses, EU identification mark. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 17.9.24

(2) Reg. (EC) No 852/2004, Article 4.2

(3) EFSA, BIOHAZ Panel (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards), 2014. Scientific Opinion on the public health risks related to the maintenance of the cold chain during storage and transport of meat. Part 1, meat of domestic ungulates. EFSA Journal 2014; 12(3):3601 https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2014.3601

(4) EFSA, BIOHAZ Panel, 2016. Scientific opinion on the growth of spoilage bacteria during storage and transport of meat. EFSA Journal 2016; 14(6):4523, 38 pp. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4523

(5) Reg. (EU) No 2017/1981

(6) John M. Ryan. Guide to Food Safety and Quality During Transportation Controls, Standards and Practices. Second Edition. Elsevier, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-12-812139-9

(7) European Parliament. Motion for a resolution on the Commission delegated regulation of 14 December 2023 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 as regards specific hygiene requirements for certain meat, fishery products, dairy products and eggs https://tinyurl.com/4s98w7y3

(8) European Parliament. Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Specific hygiene requirements for certain meat, fishery products, dairy products and eggs. Vote 11.4.24 https://tinyurl.com/yuu4je2d

(9) 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. Consolidated text 9.5.24 https://tinyurl.com/hr6xnzp2

 

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Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.

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Veterinary manager ASL Città di Torino, specialist in Inspection of food of animal origin, expert in food law, has published in international journals and deals, among other things, with food delivery and hygiene of collective catering.