Faced with avian flu, recipe changes authorized for egg or poultry products

To deal with the “supply voltages» on certain egg or poultry-based ingredients, in the context of an epidemic of Avian Fluthe 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 on Monday.

“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.“(products obtained from a component of the egg), “or ingredients derived from poultry“Like duck fat, explains the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) in a press release.

A simple statement “DEROG» registered

When the words “GMO-free», «from organic farming», «raised without antibiotic treatment», «raised outdoors” Where “origin France“, are not respected, the information must be “expliciton 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 “DEROGwill be listed. For example, in a product such as duck rillette, the State authorizes replacing “some of the duck meat and/or fat» by «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 19 million poultry in recent months, has also affected the upstream poultry farming sectors that supply chicks and ducklings, making it more difficult to get back into production. 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 Fraud Prevention, 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 important“.

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The State had already authorized manufacturers in recent months 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 world’s largest exporter. of sunflower oil. The space of the Fraud Repression site listing the changes in recipes had nearly 4,500 references concerned on Monday afternoon: 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.