temporary recipe changes allowed for certain egg or poultry products

To face the “supply tensions” on certain egg or poultry-based ingredients, in the context of an avian flu epidemic, the State will authorize the agri-food industry to temporarily change the recipes of certain products without the labels mentioning it immediately , according to a press release published Monday, August 29.

“The avian flu epidemic, which has been raging in France since November 2021, is affecting the supply of the food industry for the production of certain foodstuffs made from eggs or egg products. [produits obtenus à partir d’un composant de l’œuf] or ingredients derived from poultry” such as duck fat, explains the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) in a statement.

When the mentions “GMO-free”, “from organic farming”, “raised without antibiotic treatments”, “raised in the open air” Where “French origin” are not complied with, the information must be “explicit” on the packaging by adding a label or hiding the mention concerned, for example. On the other hand, when the explicit mention is not possible on a product which benefits from a derogation, a simple mention “Derog” will be registered.

For example, in a product such as duck rillette, the State authorizes replacing “a portion of duck meat and/or fat” by the “chicken meat and/or fat”provided however that the final product “contains a minimum of 40% duck meat and 20% duck fat”details the DGCCRF.

The virus, which has led to the slaughter of more than nineteen million poultry in recent months, has also affected the upstream poultry farming sectors that supply chicks and ducklings, making the return to production more difficult.

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4,500 references concerned

Because of these tensions, “some manufacturers are forced to make composition changes in a time frame incompatible with the printing of new packaging” and the authorities therefore decided “to guarantee the continuity of supply of the products concerned” to grant “temporary derogations from certain labeling obligations”.

If the professional wishes to modify his recipe, he must have it validated by the fraud prevention authorities, which will give him an exemption for a maximum period of three months, provided that the modification does not endanger the safety of consumers and that the difficulties of supply are “proven and significant”.

The State had already authorized, in recent months, manufacturers to temporarily modify the composition of certain food and cosmetic products using sunflower oil, to respond to supply difficulties due to the war in Ukraine, the first world exporter of sunflower oil.

The space of the site of the repression of the frauds listing the changes of recipes counted Monday afternoon nearly 4,500 references concerned: chips, gnocchi, sauces, processed products, prepared fish or desserts, for example. Sunflower is also present in many products, such as chocolates, in the form of lecithin, an additive.

Read also: After avian flu, the slow return of ducklings to Périgord farms

The World with AFP

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