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Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990)

Regulations

Regulations regarding the Classification, Packing and Marking of certain Raw Processed Meat Products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa

10. Batch identification

 

(1) For the purpose of traceability and batch identification each container containing a raw processed meat product shall be clearly marked with the batch code or batch number or date marking in such a way that the specific batch is easily identifiable and traceable: Provided that in the case of raw processed meat products presented for sale in a deli display fridge or counter as sliced, cut or whole, the “use by” date shall at least appear on each container.

 

(2)

(a) If a date marking appears on a container—
(i) it shall be preceded by appropriate wording “best before” or “best quality before date” and/or “use by”, depending on the nature of the raw processed meat product concerned;
(ii) abbreviations of the preceding wording shall not be allowed, except in the case of “best before” where the abbreviation “BB” may be used;
(iii) the date sequence shall be “day-month-year” (i.e. “dd/mm/yyyy”) when numbers only are used: Provided that in the case of imported products where an altered date sequence is used, the month shall be indicated in letters, either written out in full or abbreviated, and the year shall be written out in full; and
(iv) it shall not be removed or altered by any person.
(b) If raw processed meat products are packed in an outer container which will during normal usage be discarded by the consumer, the date marking shall, if indicated, appear on each individual container that will be retained by the consumer until consumption.