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- Point in Time (29/04/2004)
- Original (As adopted by EU)
Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for on the hygiene of foodstuffs
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Version Superseded: 01/01/2006
Point in time view as at 29/04/2004.
There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, SECTION II: MEAT FROM POULTRY AND LAGOMORPHS.
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Food business operators transporting live animals to slaughterhouses must ensure compliance with the following requirements.
Food business operators must ensure that the construction, layout and equipment of slaughterhouses in which poultry or lagomorphs are slaughtered meet the following requirements.
have a sufficient number of rooms, appropriate to the operations being carried out;
have a separate room for evisceration and further dressing, including the addition of seasonings to whole poultry carcases, unless the competent authority authorises separation in time of these operations within a specific slaughterhouse on a case-by-case basis;
ensure separation in space or time of the following operations:
stunning and bleeding;
plucking or skinning, and any scalding; and
dispatching meat;
have installations that prevent contact between the meat and the floors, walls and fixtures; and
have slaughter lines (where operated) that are designed to allow a constant progress of the slaughter process and to avoid cross-contamination between the different parts of the slaughter line. Where more than one slaughter line is operated in the same premises, there must be adequate separation of the lines to prevent cross-contamination.
transport equipment such as crates; and
means of transport.
These places and facilities are not compulsory for (b) if officially authorised places and facilities exist nearby.
are constructed so as to avoid contamination of meat, in particular by:
allowing constant progress of the operations; or
ensuring separation between the different production batches;
have rooms for the separate storage of packaged and exposed meat, unless stored at different times or in such a way that the packaging material and the manner of storage cannot be a source of contamination for the meat;
have cutting rooms equipped to ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in Chapter V;
have equipment for washing hands used by staff handling exposed meat with taps designed to prevent the spread of contamination; and
have facilities for disinfecting tools with hot water supplied at not less than 82oC, or an alternative system having an equivalent effect.
the evisceration of geese and ducks reared for the production of "foie gras", which have been stunned, bled and plucked on the fattening farm; or
the evisceration of delayed eviscerated poultry,
food business operators must ensure that separate rooms are available for that purpose.
Food business operators operating slaughterhouses in which poultry or lagomorphs are slaughtered must ensure compliance with the following requirements.
Meat from animals other than those referred to in (b) must not be used for human consumption if they die otherwise than by being slaughtered in the slaughterhouse.
Only live animals intended for slaughter may be brought into the slaughter premises, with the exception of:
delayed eviscerated poultry, geese and ducks reared for the production of "foie gras" and birds that are not considered as domestic but which are farmed as domestic animals, if slaughtered at the farm in accordance with Chapter VI;
farmed game slaughtered at the place of production in accordance with Section III; and
small wild game in accordance with Section IV, Chapter III.
parts unfit for human consumption must be removed as soon as possible from the clean sector of the establishment;
meat detained or declared unfit for human consumption and inedible by-products must not come into contact with meat declared fit for human consumption; and
viscera or parts of viscera remaining in the carcase, except for the kidneys, must be removed entirely, if possible, and as soon as possible, unless otherwise authorised by the competent authority.
Every precaution must be taken to avoid contamination of carcases, taking into account parameters such as carcase weight, water temperature, volume and direction of water flow and chilling time.
Equipment must be entirely emptied, cleaned and disinfected whenever this is necessary and at least once a day.
Food business operators must ensure that cutting and boning of meat of poultry and lagomorphs takes place in accordance with the following requirements.
meat intended for cutting is brought into the workrooms progressively as needed;
during cutting, boning, trimming, slicing, dicing, wrapping and packaging, the temperature of the meat is maintained at not more than 4oC by means of an ambient temperature of 12oC or an alternative system having an equivalent effect; and
where the premises are approved for the cutting of meat of different animal species, precautions are taken to avoid cross-contamination, where necessary by separation of the operations on the different species in either space or time.
directly from the slaughter premises; or
after a Waiting period in a chilling or refrigerating room.
Food business operators may slaughter poultry referred to in Chapter IV, point 1(b)(i), on the farm only with the authorisation of the competent authority and in compliance with the following requirements.
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