John Myers
In order to prevent beef from animals with BSE coming into circulation, the European Union introduced mandatory beef labeling. This seamless system, which was designed following the BSE crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, serves to trace the origin of the meat.
Fresh, chilled, or frozen beef and ground beef must be labeled to identify where the meat came from. Mixed minced meat with a beef content of at least 50 percent must also be marked in this way, but not pre-seasoned, marinated, or already processed meat.
Everyone involved in the processing chain, from rearing to slaughtering and cutting the meat, has to write certain information on the label. The reference number, for example, gives an indication of the animal or animals from which the beef came. Individual animals have an individual ear tag number and groups of animals, so-called batches, have a batch number.
You will also find information on the label about where the animal was born, fattened, slaughtered, and butchered. This way you can see in which country the cow was raised. The slaughterhouse and cutting plant are also noted on the label with their approval number. In this way, you can research which companies are meant.
In the case of minced meat, you will find information on the origin, slaughtering, and production in addition to the reference number. Origin means country of birth and fattening state, although mixed mince may come from animals from different states, both of which are noted under origin. However, the beef itself may only come from one country. When slaughtering, only the respective country is named and the country of manufacture is only noted if it differs from the country of origin.
You will find the label either on the meat pack from the refrigerated section or clearly as a notice or sign on the meat counter. In principle, you can always identify where the beef comes from.
