Food safety regulations for butchers

If you run a butchery business, there are several rules that you must comply with.

What is 'meat'?

The definition of meat is 'skeletal muscle of mammalian and bird species recognised as fit for human consumption with naturally included or attached tissue'. The definition does not include 'mechanically separated meat'. Regulations set limits for the amount of fat and connective tissue (rind, tendon, sinew and skin) allowed.

Quantitative Ingredient Declarations (QUID declarations)

If you sell any food loose and not prepacked that contains 'meat' as defined above, you must label it with a QUID declaration.

You do not need to give a QUID if the ingredients:

• have only been used in small quantities as flavouring
• are used in varying proportions and can be labelled as fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs or spices (such as in a vegetable soup)
• already have a quantity shown on the label as a ‘drained net weight’

You also do not need a QUID for ingredients that can vary in quantity without altering the character of the food or distinguishing it from similar foods. For example, you do not need to show a QUID for flour in a flour tortilla.

You must give the meat QUID when you sell loose or pre-packed-for-direct-sale products that contain meat and other ingredients (except in a catering environment). You must display the QUID on a label on the food or display it clearly where the customer can see it when they are choosing the product.

On pre-packed food, you must give this information either:

• as a percentage in brackets in the ingredients list after the name of the ingredient, for example ‘pork (80%)’
• in or next to the name of the food, for example ‘containing 80% pork’

Food safety advice for butchers

Butchers must comply with the same food hygiene laws as other food businesses. This includes following Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.

Certain meat products must also meet marketing standards for food and drink products that set rules on quality, classification and labelling.

Under current operating arrangements for Northern Ireland, food products placed on the NI market continue to follow EU rules. If you move pre-packed retail goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, there are special movement and labelling rules under the Windsor Framework and the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. You should follow the latest guidance on that scheme if it applies to your business.