Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000) Red Meat Regulations, 2004 Part I : General 1. Definitions

 

 

In these regulations any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have that meaning and-

 

"Act"

means the Meat Safety Act 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000);

 

"approved meat"

means meat passed by a registered inspector;

 

"carcass"

means the dressed carcass derived from an animal after the hide or skin (or hair in the case of pigs), the entrails, the pluck, the shanks and head (in the case of cattle, sheep, goats), the tail (in the case of cattle), the diaphragm and lactating udders have been removed;

 

"clean areas"

include the dressing room, areas where dressed carcasses and red offal are handled, chilled and dispatched, as well as the ablution and eating facilities of personnel working in these areas and where provided, washing facilities for meat transport vehicles, laundry, offices and laboratory;

 

"condemned material"

means an animal or parts of an animal inspected and judged, or otherwise determined, to be unacceptable for human and animal consumption and requiring sterilizing or destruction;

 

"condemned area or room"

means an area or room dedicated to keeping condemned material;

 

"cutting"

means deboning and portioning of carcasses;

 

"detained meat"

means a carcass and organs or parts thereof suspected by the inspector, during primary inspection, to be unacceptable for human consumption and held for secondary inspection;

 

"dirty areas"

include lairages, washing facilities for livestock transport vehicles, stunning area, bleeding area, dehairing room in the case of pigs, areas where  inedible material, condemned material and rough offal are handled as well as the ablution and eating facilities of personnel working in these areas;

 

"dressing"

means the progressive separation, in the dressing room or area, of an animal into a carcass (or sides of a carcass), other edible parts and inedible material;

 

"dressing room"

means a room or area, separate from the bleeding room or area, where a carcass is dressed by removing the feet, head and skin, and evisceration is done;

 

"eviscerate"

means the removal of the contents of the thoracic and abdominal cavities;

 

"forbidden substance"

means a harmful substance as contemplated in regulations under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972( Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"in contact material"

means any wrapping material that makes direct contact with meat;

 

"inedible material"

means parts of an animal unsuitable for human consumption but not requiring destruction;

 

"meat inspection service"

means the performance of ante-mortem, primary and secondary meat inspections by a registered inspector who may be employed by an assignee and may include hygiene management and regulatory control as agreed on with the provincial executive officer for each abattoir and includes reporting of non-conformances to the provincial executive officer;

 

"passed"

means when used in conjunction with the inspection of meat, that such meat has been approved for human and animal consumption and are stamped with a stamp bearing the word "PASSED";

 

"primary meat inspection"

means the inspection, by a registered inspector, of a carcass and organs directly after flaying and evisceration in terms of Part VI B;

 

"processing"

means altering of the meat, other than cutting and portioning, dicing and mincing to enhance the meat;

 

"protocol"

means a particular procedure or specific measures intended to minimise risk in a particular situation, that have been agreed to by the parties concerned and approved under these regulations by the provincial executive officer;

 

"red offal"

means the lungs, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, tongue and demasked head of the slaughtered animal;

 

"registered inspector"

means a person contemplated in  section (11)(1)(c) of the Act who is registered by the provincial executive officer under regulation 111 to do a meat inspection service in a particular abattoir;

 

"requirement for food premises under the Health Act"

means general hygiene requirements for food premises and the transport of food, published in Government Notice No. 918 of 30 July 1999 under the Health Act, 1977 (Act No. 63 of 1977);

 

"rough offal"

means the stomach, intestines, feet and skin-on head of the slaughtered animal except in the case of pigs where the head and feet are part of the carcass;

 

"secondary meat inspection"

means the inspection, by a registered veterinarian, of a carcass and organs detained during primary meat inspection in terms of Part VI C; and

 

"unit"

in relation to a quantity standard for determining throughput for red meat, means-