EC Considers Lactic Acid Carcase Treatments

EU - The European Commission is set to relax regulations over the use of lactic acid as a decontamination treatment for beef carcases.

20 January 2012

1 minute read

The draft commission proposal on the use of lactic acid in processing plants as a food safety and hygiene measure is expected to be voted on later this year.

This month in the UK, the Food Standards Agency is expected to recommend to government ministers not to oppose the use of decontamination treatments, including lactic acid, in raw meat production provided their safety can be proven and they are not used as a substitute for good hygiene practices.

The FSA is to recommend that the use of lactic acid should be included in good hygiene practices and HACCP-based systems.

The FSA added that it did not think it appropriate that products where lactic acid had been used to treat the carcases should be labelled because it could lead to enforcement issues.

The move by the European Commission will overturn the regulation that requires that no substances other than potable water can be used to remove contaminants from the surface of carcases.

Moves to allow the use of chlorine treatments in meat plants were thrown out in 2008 because of concerns over the environmental impacts they might have.

The decision by the EC to consider the use of lactic acid follows a submission by the USDA to the commission.