Catering: the obligation to display the origin of meat extended to processed products

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 11:54 a.m., March 6, 2024

Restaurants and canteens will now be required to display the origin of meat used as an ingredient in processed products, according to a decree published Wednesday in the Official Journal, a long-standing request from livestock professionals to promote origin France.

This obligation will concern traditional restaurants and canteens as much as establishments offering take-out or delivery meals, in particular "dark kitchens", it is specified in the decree which is due to come into force on Thursday. 

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“Reconquest of our sovereignty over livestock”

It will apply to “purchased meats already prepared or cooked” (nuggets, ham, etc.) from bovine, porcine, sheep and poultry species.

The labeling of beef, pork, sheep and poultry purchased raw is the subject of a separate decree, which must be extended since, according to the Official Journal website, its provisions were applicable until February 29.

The text concerning processed products is published in application of the Egalim 2 law, aimed at protecting the remuneration of farmers, according to the decree, published a few days after the end of the International Agricultural Show, marked by the angry movement of farmers which broke out in January.

On this occasion, the government presented a plan to "reconquer our sovereignty over livestock farming", which provided for this extension of the compulsory display of origin to processed products.

The text provides that the restaurateur "informs consumers of the origin or provenance of meats used as ingredients in meat preparations and meat products supplied to him, when he becomes aware of them in application of a national or European Union regulation" and this, "in a visible, legible and distinct manner".

When the birth, breeding and slaughter of the animal take place in the same country, the display is made by mentioning "the origin".

If this is not the case, the restorer must distinguish between "born and raised" and "slaughtered".

Under certain conditions, the indication of the name of the country can be replaced by the mention “EU” or “non-EU”.

Any breach “is punishable by an administrative fine the amount of which cannot exceed 1,500 euros for a natural person and 7,500 euros for a legal entity”.