Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) Regulations Regulations regarding the Classification, Packing and Marking of certain Raw Processed Meat Products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa 1. Definitions

 

Any word or expression in these regulations to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have that meaning and, unless the context otherwise indicates—

 

"address"

means a physical address and includes the street or road number or name and the name of the town, village or suburb and, in the case of a farm, the name or number of the farm and of the magisterial district in which it is situated, or in the case of imported foodstuffs, if otherwise, the name and address as provided for in the Codex Alimentarius Commission's document entitled: General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods, CODEX STAN 1-1985;

 

"batch"

means a definite quantity of a raw processed meat product that is produced essentially under the same conditions and over a period not exceeding 24 hours;

 

"best before date" or "best quality before date"

means the date which signifies the end of period under any stated storage conditions during which the unopened product will remain fully marketable and will retain any specific qualities for which implied or express claims have been made, however, beyond the date the food may still be acceptable for consumption;

 

"bird species"

means species such as but not limited to Gallus domesticus (fowls), Meleagris gallopavo (turkeys), Anas (ducks and muscovies), and Struthio camelus (ostrich) that are fit for human consumption;

 

"cereal"

means a product derived from the grain or edible seed of any cultivated grasses of the family Poaceae, which may be used as a food, such as but not limited to wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, maize and millet;

 

"certain raw processed meat products"

(further referred to as ‘raw processed meat products’ in the text) means within the scope of these regulations, the classes of raw processed meat products set out in regulation 4, and includes such products presented for sale in the frozen state;

 

"container"

means the immediate container manufactured from any suitable material into which the raw processed meat products are packed for final sale, includes wrappers, gift packs and hamper packs when such is offered to the consumer;

 

"colourant"

means a colourant as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"domesticated animal species"

means species such as but not limited to bovine (excluding animals from the subfamily Bovinae, e.g. buffalo, kudus, etc.), ovine, porcine and caprine that are fit for human consumption;

 

"edible offal"

means—

 

"EU SADC EPA"

means the European Union and Southern African Development Community Economic Partnership Agreement signed on 10 June 2016 between the member states of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community region of which the Republic of South Africa forms part;

 

"Executive Officer"

means the officer designated under section 2(1) of the Act;

 

"fat"

means edible lipids obtained from domesticated animal, bird or wild game species, or plant origin, or a combination thereof;

 

"fat content" (%)

means the mass of the fat expressed as a percent of the total product mass;

 

"food additive"

means a food additive as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"foodstuff"

means a foodstuff as defined in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"geographical indication" (GI)

means an indication (name) as defined in the regulations relating to the protection of geographical indications used on agricultural products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa published under the Act;

 

"hamper pack" or "gift pack"

means packaging (e.g. an open carton wrapped in transparent plastic, a sealed transparent plastic bag, carton with dividing segments wrapped in transparent plastic etc.) other than an outer container containing multiple containers of raw processed meat products of the same class or of different classes, normally presented for sale during but not limited to certain special occasions, events or holiday periods (e.g. a Christmas hamper, back to school hamper, family hamper, braaipack etc.);

 

"herbs"

mean the either fresh, dried or extract of the non-toxic leafy green or flowering parts of a plant used for among others the flavouring of foodstuffs;

 

"inedible offal"

means –

 

"ingredient"

means an ingredient as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"inspector"

means the executive officer of the Act or an officer under his or her control, or an assignee or an employee of an assignee;

 

"international agreement"

means any bilateral or multilateral treaty, convention, or agreement to which the Republic of South Africa is a party/ signatory, and any arrangement between the Republic of South Africa and another country, concerning the protection of geographical indications;

 

"label"

means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial, graphic or other descriptive matter, which is written, printed, stenciled, marked, embossed, impressed upon, or permanently attached to a container of a raw processed meat product;

 

"lean meat percent"

means mass percent of nitrogen represented by subtracting the nitrogen contribution from non-meat proteinaceous material present in the product, from the total percent nitrogen analyzed, multiplied by a factor of 30;

 

"lean meat equivalent (%)" (LME %)

means percent protein nitrogen (N) multiplied by a factor of 30 (LME % = percent protein x 4.8; Protein = Protein N% x 6.25): Provided that—

 

"main panel"

means that part of the container or label that bears the brand name or trademark of the product in greatest prominence or any other part of the container or label that bears the brand name or trade mark in equal prominence;

 

"meat"

means the clean, sound and wholesome skeletal musculature and fatty tissue of any domesticated animal, bird or wild game species, used as a foodstuff, together with any connective tissue, residual/intrinsic blood, bone, fat and cartilage that occurs naturally in the skeletal musculature of the dressed carcass and head, excluding the musculature of the lips, snout, scalp and ears;

 

"meat analogue"

(also known as meat substitute, mock meat, faux meat or imitation meat) means products that—

 

"mechanically recovered meat" (MRM)

means pulped material consisting predominantly of muscular tissue, collagen, marrow and fat recovered by a process whereby bone and meat are mechanically separated of which the calcium content shall not exceed 1.5% [Please note: MRM is synonymous with mechanically separated meat (MSM), mechanically deboned meat (MDM) and mechanically boned meat (MBM)];

 

"outer container"

means a container which contains more than one container of a raw processed meat product, and includes hamper packs or gift packs, but excludes any type of outer container in which raw processed meat products are transported (e.g. crate, lugs etc.);

 

"primary sample"

means a randomly selected number of containers from a batch as set out in item 14;

 

"raw banger" or "raw griller"

means any sausage sold under a name in which the word “banger” or “griller” appears, either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(11);

 

"raw boerewors"

means any sausage sold under a name in which the word “boerewors” appears, either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(7);

 

"raw braaiwors" or "raw sizzler"

means any sausage sold under a name in which the word “braaiwors” or “sizzler” appears, either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(12);

 

"raw burger", "raw patty" and "hamburger patty"

means any meat type product sold under a name in which the word “burger”, “patty” and “hamburger patty” appears either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(10);

 

"raw flavoured ground meat and offal" or "raw flavoured minced and offal mix" or "raw flavoured meat and offal mix"

means any type of product sold under a name(s) in which the words“(flavoured) ground meat and offal” or “(flavoured) minced and offal mix” or “(flavoured) meat and offal mix” appears either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(4);

 

"raw flavoured ground meat" or "raw flavoured minced mix" or "raw flavoured meat mix"

means any meat type product sold under a name(s) in which the words “(flavoured) ground meat” or “(flavoured) minced mix” or “(flavoured) meat mix” appears either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(3);

 

"raw flavoured mixed-species ground meat and offal" or "raw flavoured mixed-species minced and offal mix" or "raw flavoured mixed-species meat and offal mix"

means any ground meat and offal or minced and offal mix or meat and offal mix manufactured from a mixture of the meat and offal of two or more species of domesticated animals, birds or wild game that is sold under a name in which the names of the different species and the words “(flavoured) ground meat and offal” or “(flavoured) minced and offal mix” or “(flavoured) meat and offal mix” appear, either by themselves or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(6);

 

"raw flavoured mixed-species ground meat" or "raw flavoured mixed-species minced mix" or "raw flavoured mixed-species meat mix"

means any ground meat or minced mix or meat mix manufactured from a mixture of the meat of two or more species of domesticated animals, birds or wild game that is sold under a name in which the names of the different species and the words “(flavoured) ground meat” or “(flavoured) minced mix” or “(flavoured) meat mix” appear, either by themselves or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(5);

 

"raw minced meat"

means any meat type product sold under a name(s) in which the words “minced” or “minced meat” appears either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(1);

 

"raw mixed-species minced meat"

means any meat type product manufactured from a mixture of the meat of two or more species of domesticated animals, birds and/or wild game and that is sold under a name in which the names of the different species and the word “minced” or “minced meat” appear, either by themselves or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(2);

 

"raw mixed-species sausage" or "raw mixed-species wors"

means any sausage manufactured from a mixture of the meat of two or more species of domesticated animals, birds and/or wild game and that is sold under a name in which the names of the different species and the word “sausage” or “wors” appear, either by themselves or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(9);

 

"raw species sausage" or "raw species wors"

means any sausage manufactured predominantly from the meat of a specific species of domesticated animals, birds or wild game and that is sold under a name in which the name of the specific species and the word “sausage” or “wors” appear, either by itself or in combination with any other word or expression, and which complies with the compositional standards as set out in regulation 5(8);

 

"registered trade mark"

means a registered trade mark as defined in the Trade Marks Act, 1993 (Act No. 194 of 1993);

 

"scale label"

means a label that is printed by an electronic scale (weighing machine) mainly for the purpose of indicating the weight and price of the product, but which may also include other information about the product concerned such as e.g. an abbreviated description of the product, best before date, country of origin, etc.;

 

"spices"

means dried, pungent or aromatic substances of edible plant origin (i.e. from the fruit, root, stem,bulb, bark or seeds) primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving of foodstuffs;

 

"the Act"

means the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990);

 

"total meat content"

means lean meat percent (including mechanically recovered meat, except where it is specifically excluded), plus fat percent;

 

"total meat equivalent (%)" (TME)

means lean meat equivalent plus any fat or edible oils, edible offal or combination thereof, expressed as a percent of product mass as offered for sale;

 

"use by date" or "expiration date"

means the date which signifies the end of the period under any stated storage conditions, after which the product should not be sold or consumed due to safety and quality reasons;

 

"vinegar"

means the product as defined in the latest regulations relating to the classification, packing and marking of vinegar and imitation vinegar intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa published under the Act;

 

"water"

means potable water as described in the SANS 241-1 Drinking Water Standard; and

 

"wild game species"

means the wild game animals listed in Schedule 1 of the Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000) that are fit for human consumption.