Hotdog suppliers must revise their labelling if they want to continue using the American term for their sausages.
According to guidance notes due to be released by LACORS, the government organisation that assists local authorities in the UK to improve the quality of trading standards and food, products that have previously been referred to as ‘hotdogs’ will have to meet European Commission meat regulations, as set out in The Meat Products Regulations 2003 (MPR). Under the MPR, the definition of meat is ‘skeletal muscle with naturally included or attached tissue’. This does not include mechanically recovered meat
(MRM), which many hotdogs are made out of.
The LACORS guidance notes on hotdogs, which are being created as a response to a query by the Provision Trade Federation (PTF), will therefore oblige hotdogs to state on the labelling if they are made using MRM in order to retain their ‘hotdog’ name.
Hot dog manufacturer Ye Olde Oak said it had non-MRM products available at the premium end, as well as those produced using MRM.