Fact Sheet On The Proposed Meat Standard

Just exactly how much meat is in a meat pie or how much fat is in lean mince? And how do you know this when you go and buy   these products at a shop or supermarket?

Recently, everyone's been talking about how much meat is in a meat pie.

Some people have been claiming that the end is nigh for pie. And others have said there's no need to worry as our much loved food icon isn't under threat.

So what exactly is happening with the proposed new meat and meat product standard? Here at the Australia New Zealand Food Authority, we've written this fact sheet so you can decide for yourself.

The Review of Food Standards

At the moment, ANZFA is reviewing all the food regulations in Australia and New Zealand. This is because many of these were developed more than twenty years ago, are out of date, and don't cover the wide range of foods that we eat today.  

Public health and safety is the Review's number one concern. Food standards will remain in place where there is any danger to the community if they're removed. On top of this, ANZFA's proposing to include more information for you on labels through percentage labelling and nutritional information panels which will help you work out what your food is made of.

The Proposed Standard for Meat and Meat Products

The proposed standard will cover all meat and products containing meat. Not just the foods we traditionally eat, such as meat pies and sausage rolls, but also the newer meat products we enjoy today such as samosas, dim sims and spring rolls. There were lots of inconsistencies in the previous standard for instance there was a standard for bigger meat pies but not for smaller meat pies and sausage rolls.

Here are some of the proposed improvements:

Meat pies

• Upfront, you need to know that meat pies will always have to have meat in them. Otherwise, they're just not meat pies. Anyone selling meat pies without meat can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law under food, fair trading and consumer laws.

• There is a proposal to change the current requirement that pies need to have a minimum content of meat (25 per cent in Australia and 24.5 per cent in New Zealand—NOT 70 per cent as it's often wrongly reported). Ask your local bakery how much meat is in their meat pies. You'll probably find that most pie makers say that their pies have more than 25 per cent meat.

ANZFA wants you to know how much meat is in your pie. We're proposing a new system which will tell you this   - called percentage labelling. More on that later...

The reason behind this proposal is that there is no valid public health and safety reason why food law should legislate for how much meat is in a meat pie.

  This proposal won't affect the safety of pies or other meat products in any way. Pies must be safe to eat at all times.

  Percentage labelling—the key to knowing how much meat is in a meat pie or a sausage or a spring roll?

• So how will I know how much meat is in a meat pie?  At the moment, it's pretty hard to know exactly how much meat is in a meat pie. All we know is that pies must have a bare minimum of 25 per cent meat.

  As we've said above, we're working on a proposal which will require the percentages of key ingredients in foods to be spelt out on food labels. This way, you'll be able to pick up a frozen pie out of the supermarket freezer, check the ingredient list for how much meat is in the pie, and then compare it against other brands. You'll know whether you are buying a pie with say 10 per cent, 30 per cent, 50 per cent or more meat in it—you decide.

Food packaging

The ingredient list on the meat pie packaging would look something like this:

STEAK AND ONION PIE

INGREDIENTS: FLOUR, STEAK(35 %), MARGARINE , THICKENER, ONION (5%),VEGETABLE PROTEIN, SALT, SPICES, BAKING POWDER.

STEAK AND KIDNEY PIE

INGREDIENTS: FLOUR , STEAK(25 %), MARGARINE , KIDNEY (15%) THICKENER , ONION (5%), VEGETABLE PROTEIN, SALT, SPICES, BAKING POWDER

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM PIE

INGREDIENTS: FLOUR,   CHICKEN (30 %), MARGARINE, MUSHROOM (10%) THICKENER , ONION, VEGETABLE PROTEIN, SALT, SPICES, BAKING POWDER

• Under the new proposal for meat pies, if you buy an unpackaged meat pie, say at the footy or from a bakery, the amount of meat (%) in meat pies must be displayed for you to see.   If it isn't—which would be against the law—you could ask the pie seller to tell you how much meat is in the pie, or you could just decide not to buy your pie from that pie seller.

• There have been media reports saying that if the laws were changed, pies would have all sorts of offal in them. At the moment, it's not illegal to add offal to pies—that's how come you can buy and eat a steak and kidney pie. What the new proposal is suggesting is that manufacturers could add a greater range of offal to pies. But, pie makers can't just add offal without telling you. They will have to spell out exactly what sort of offal is added to the pie on its label.

Sausages

• ANZFA is recommending that the minimum meat content of 50 per cent meat be maintained in sausages . This food standard is not being changed in Australia and it only a minor change in New Zealand from 45% non- fat meat. Why is this? Unlike the meat pie standard, the sausage standard is being kept on public health grounds. Our dietary data tells us children get most of their meat and protein from eating sausages. We therefore need to ensure that the current requirements are maintained to ensure our kids get enough protein in their diet.

Mince

• Mince must be made from minced whole meat (ie the only fat allowed is that attached to a piece of meat). Where a claim is made such as premium or lean mince then the percentage of fat must be declared.

Proc e ssed meats

• At the moment, there are some processed meats where the regulations require a minimum of 30 per cent meat and others a minimum of 66 per cent meat. Yet, how do you know which are which?

• We're proposing that all meats would have their key ingredients spelt out through percentage labelling and must have a minimum of 30 per cent meat.

Who decides?

• Every proposal that we develop at ANZFA asks consumers for their views. Each proposal goes through two rounds of public comment. We value your comments. Comments from the public are incorporated into the final recommendation to Ministers. There is still a chance to have your say about the new meat standard. You will need to get your written submission to us by the 22 September 1999.

• ANZFA would like to thank all of you who have already let us know your views which we have taken into consideration in drafting this new standard.

• The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council, which is made up of State and Territory   and the New Zealand Health Ministers, will make the final decision about meat pies, sausages and processed meats later this year.  

Anyone wishing to make a written submission on the proposed standard should contact ANZFA on

(02) 6271 2222 Canberra or (04) 473 9942 Wellington, or check our website www.foodstandards.gov.au or www.foodstandards.govt.nz , or write to the following addresses: