Meat Manufacturing

Small meat manufacturing premises include the following:

Minced meat and meat preparation establishments
Meat product establishments
Poultry slaughtering establishments
Cold stores/distribution centres
Food vehicles
Definitions

'Fresh meat' refers to meat that has not undergone any preserving process other than chilling, freezing or quick freezing, including meat that is vacuum-wrapped or wrapped in a controlled atmosphere.
'Meat preparations' refers to fresh meat, including meat that has been reduced to fragments, which has had foodstuffs, seasonings or additives added to it, or which has undergone processes insufficient to modify the internal muscle fibre structure of the meat, and thus to eliminate the characteristics of fresh meat.
'Meat products' refers to processed products resulting from the processing of meat, or from the further processing of such processed products, so that the cut surface shows that the product no longer has the characteristics of fresh meat.
'Minced meat' refers to boned meat that has been mined into fragments, and contains less than 1% salt.
General Conditions and Exemptions

1. Application

All food premises must be registered and approved. To apply for registration or approval, the proprietor should apply to the relevant local authority using the official application form.

2. Registration

The EC Meat Regulations require that any premises being used to produce, cut, wrap, rewrap, store or place on the market any processed or unprocessed meat must be registered by the Minister in accordance with the Regulations.

3. Approval

The premises must be inspected and approved, as applicable to relevant legislation and type of operation. 4. Exemptions Retail premises, or premises adjacent to sales point, where preparation and storage are performed for the purpose of supplying the consumer directly, as exempt from the Regulations.

4. Supervision

Supervision includes hygiene inspections to agreed targets, based on a risk categorisation agreed with the Food Safety Authority (FSA), food sampling to an agreed plan and examination or one's own checks. Inspections are carried out with reference to the following guidance notes produced by the FSA:

Guidance Note No. 4 on the Approval and Operation of Independent Meat Production Units under EC Meat Legislation: Meat Products, Minced Meat and Meat Preparations
Guidance Note No. 5 on the Approval and Operation of Independent Meat Production Units under EC Fresh Meat Legislation
Guidance Note No. 10 on Product Recall and Traceability
Other Guidance Notes that may be issued from time to time.
Supervision includes the following tasks:

In conjunction with the Authority, granting and withdrawal of approval, in accordance with requirements, and provide information to enable the Authority to maintain the Register of Premises.

Allocating an inspectorate to each premises.
Giving a risk categorisation to each premises.
Carrying out inspections. Frequency of inspections depends on the throughput of the establishment, the type of product manufactured, risk assessment and guarantees offered by own checks and HACCP programmes.
Reviewing of all aspects of the operation of each premises, to ensure compliance with the requirements.
Inspecting the operations at each premises.
Checking on premises, equipment, sanitation and pest control.
Checking for operational hygiene and general maintenance of premises.
Checking on the disposal of SRM.
Inspecting meat packing, storage and transport.
Ensuring all report forms used by the officer for the purposes of this service contract iare standardised in agreement with the official agency.
Examining and analysing labelling, as agreed.
Analysing the results of one's own microbiological checks and checks on HACCP programmes carried out by the owner, or person in charge, in accordance with the requirements of the specific meat regulations.
Taking samples for analysis as required, including samples of meat and meat products, in accordance with requirements of the legislation listed in Schedule 1. Samples may be analysed for reference purposes or specialist testing at other laboratories. Where available, accredited laboratories should be used.
Using appropriate enforcement procedures, including prosecutions, in accordance with specific meat regulations or the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998.
Applying the 'health mark' as appropriate, in accordance with the specific meat regulations.
Supervising structural conditions and conditions of preparation, processing, manufacturing, packaging, storage and transportation, in accordance with the specific meat regulations.
Checking on cold stores, in accordance with the European Community (Meat Products and other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 and/or the European Community (Minced Meat and Meat Preparations) Regulations, 1996, including checks of the entry and exit of fresh meat, and checks on the conditions or storage.[left]