The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: sarha on November 12, 2010, 09:09:59 am

Title: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 12, 2010, 09:09:59 am
Hello all :wave:

Haven't been on for a while!

My boys are booked in for slaughter on 29th. I'm collecting them on the 30th and have a butcher cutting and we will be making sausages etc ....gonna be a very long day as have 4 to do but I'm looking forward to it! ( she says now....ignorance is bliss, eh?)

Now I have read through a lot of posts with interest with regard to selling meat.  Surely there must be some regulations to adhere to before selling meat the public? I have sold some of my pork already to friends/family....can I advertise in local paper etc to sell the rest? Would it be better to sell half a pig/whole pig to my local butcher? Really confused, so any info would be gratefully received!
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: Hilarysmum on November 12, 2010, 09:29:06 am
Its very different here in France the rules for selling pork are very strict and manifold.  Would be interested to hear what the UK rules are. 
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: oaklandspigs on November 12, 2010, 10:08:12 am
Sorry Sarha, this is going to read really negatively, but here goes...

Firstly selling privately to family & friends is a whole lot different to selling publicly to unknowns.

The essence of the regs is that food should be prepared in approved premises, by approved people, labelled accurately, and handled, stored and transported hygienically, and sold in approved premises licenced to sell - each element of the previous has a regulation attached.

Lots of regs, and you may have left it too late of end Nov.

Legally your meat must be cut in a licensed cutting plant (one that is overseen by the Meat Hygiene Service) - you cannot legally sell meat that has been cut by a private butcher (only he can).  Now many Trading Standards ignore this, and allow you to sell providing it has been cut in professional premises with full HACCP regulations, and by a qualified butcher.

Secondly you meat and sausages will need to be labelled in accordance with the Food Labelling Regulations 1996. Google these and read at your leisure. In essence you must list all ingredients in order of amount - easy for leg of pork, but also required for your sausages.  You must list weight - some TS insist on checking your scales are accurate, some don't, some insist on deadweights and daily records, some don't. Any premises you use should be checked by TS, some are really helpful and will come in advance, some come along and audit what you have done. You can use your kitchen if approved by TS to weigh and label. Yiu must have a sell by date that has a logic behind it.  Any cooking will be a big no-no!
You cannot store domestic and for sale meat in the same fridge or freezer, so you can't have a leg of pork for sale in the same fridge as that meat pie you didn't finish at supper last night.

TS would expect you to have a food hygiene certificate

That's just some of the basics, and you will see that unless you plan to do this regularly, not really worth the effort !

I have not touched on selling from non approved premises (your property is I presume not a shop!), transporting (chilled vans) etc. etc.

I would be surprised if you could get through all these hurdles by end Nov.

For your other suggestions, I would be doubtful if an ad in paper produced sales – if you look at it the other way around when have you looked for meat in a newspaper, and would you buy from a small ad?

Your butcher will probably not be interested in your pork, he will be working to fixed fat thicknesses, and is very unlikely to want to buy a one off from you and upset his regular supplier.  If he does he will be looking for a real bargain, so don't expect to make anything but a loss there.

So would recommend you work on family & friends to sell your surplus.

Sorry if this has really depressed you, but as you suspected, selling pork needs to comply with lots of regs, and selling in itself is an art, which many do master, but does take some practise.

Good luck !

Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 12, 2010, 10:49:31 am
Oaklandpigs....thankyou very much for taking the time to write such a comprehensive reply!! Wasn't expecting that and no it hasn't depressed me :)

Well looks like I'll be buying another freezer and hopefully I will be having repeat orders from my family/friends....if not then good for us.
The point of us rearing pigs for the first time was to keep us supplied with pork for a long time....a very long time!! I am looking forward to tasting the meat tho...oooh what to cook first??!! :)


Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: Daisys Mum on November 12, 2010, 11:13:37 am

Sarha, you will be amazed at how many friends you will aquire after you have done your first pigs, I have just sold two and a half to "friends", I have them butchered and most people are happy to collect them from the butcher, if not they are delivered right away and never come into my premises at all.
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: Sudanpan on November 12, 2010, 11:21:17 am
Congrats on the impending pork glut  :D
Are you getting the liver? If so I would heartily recommend making pate - I made a three pork pate (rough) and then a smooth pork liver, they were really fab. I got the recipes from googling the net:

Nigel Slater’s recipe for a smooth and creamy paté
(Enough for 6)
Ingredients
•   chicken livers – about 400g - I substituted the chicken liver for pok liver - it works  :D
•   milk – enough to soak the livers in
•   butter – 110g, plus 50g at the very end
•   whipping cream – 90ml
•   brandy
Method
The first thing I do is to trim off any boingy bits and remove any traces of the gall bladder. Then I sliced the liver into sizes comparable with chicken livers. Then I covered the liver with milk and let it soak for about half an hour.

 Next melt the butter in a frying pan, drain the milk from the liver and, when the butter is very hot, pop the drained slices of liver in. Fry quickly to get a nice browned texture on both sides. Take care not to overcook it or the paté won’t have that lovely pinkness.
The next step is to put all the ingredients (the liver, butter, and cream plus salt and pepper for seasoning) into a food processor and blitz it to make it as smooth as you can. Pour a glug or two of brandy into the pan which you used to cook the liver, bring to the boil and let the brandy soak up all the meat juices remaining in the pan. Pour the brandy and juices from the pan into the liver mixture and blitz again.
No matter how much you’ve blitzed the paté, there will still be some graininess, although it should still be pinkish.
You could stop there as you’ve already made the basic paté but in Nigel Slater’s words, “Now, using a rubber spatula, push the mixture through a stainless steel sieve into a bowl. I know this is deeply boring, and the sieve is yet another thing to wash up, but it really does make a crucial difference to the paté, turning the grainy and the mundane into the blissfully velvety.”
Now put the paté into a suitable dish. I used a large ramekin. Smooth the top and put it in the fridge to set.
Next you’re supposed to faff about with clarified butter to top it. I do this sometimes just for the appearance of the paté but I’ve found that it’s not really necessary. Cover with clingfilm to stop any discolouration. Scoff it up within two or three days – if it lasts that long.

3 pork pate
Ingredients
•   10-12 rindless streaky bacon rashers (125-150g/4-5oz), stretched
•   6 whole sage leaves and 1tbsp fresh chopped sage leaves
•   1 thick slice of bread (about 50-60g/1ľ-2oz)
•   250g (8oz) fresh pig's liver, membrane and tough ventricles removed
•   250g (8oz) lean minced pork
•   1 small onion, peeled and chopped
•   1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
•   Good pinch of nutmeg
•   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•   4tbsp brandy or port
To serve

Method
1.   Set the oven to gas mark 3 or 160°C. Line the loaf tin with 7-8 rashers of the bacon. Tuck whole sage leaves underneath the bacon in a row.
2.   Tear the bread into a food processor and whizz for a few seconds to make coarse crumbs. Snip the bacon trimmings and the rest of the rashers into smaller pieces. Add these and the roughly chopped liver to the breadcrumbs and whizz for a few seconds to combine, then add the minced pork, onion, garlic, chopped sage, nutmeg, a generous amount of seasoning and the brandy or port. Whizz again, but not too long unless you want a very smooth pâté. If you haven't got a food processor, finely chop the meat and onion and mix it all together with your hand.
3.   Push the mixture down into the bacon-lined tin. Cover with greased foil. Put the tin in a roasting tin and half-fill that tin with boiling water. Place it in the centre of the oven and cook for 1˝ hrs. Push a skewer into pâté. If the juices are still pink, cook for another 15 mins. Cool the pâté in the tin at room temperature, then overnight in the fridge.
4.   Turn the pâté out on to a plate and cut slices for serving with toast and relish or chutney, and salad, if you like.
5.   Woman's Weekly cooker editor Sue McMahon's tip: For speed and economy, double up on the recipe if you have two loaf tins, to make one for eating now and one to freeze
6.   How to freeze: Cool pâté, turn out and wrap in cling film, then foil. Seal, label and freeze. Use within 2 months. Loosen wrappings and thaw in the fridge.
Woman's Weekly cooker editor Sue McMahon's tip: For speed and economy, double up on the recipe if you have two loaf tins, to make one for eating now and one to freeze How to freeze: Cool pâté, turn out and wrap in cling film, then foil. Seal, label and freeze. Use within 2 months. Loosen wrappings and thaw in the fridge. Nutritional values are for maximum number of servings Feature: Kate Moseley.

Enjoy!
Tish
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: faith0504 on November 12, 2010, 12:41:26 pm
could they be made without the booze? dont touch the stuff.

I love pate those recipes sound yummy
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 12, 2010, 03:06:00 pm
Yum, the recipes for pate sound lush! Will be making lots of pate for xmas and beyond!!

Daisysmum....thankyou for your reply :)
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: oaklandspigs on November 12, 2010, 04:43:50 pm
Sarha,

The second freezer is an excellent idea, you will find that once family & friends start buying, they will come back regularly, and quite happily buy from your freezer.  Pork freezes really well, so no difference in a (thawed!) frozen vs. fresh joint. 

Some F&F will start by buying a "small leg" ("we'll just try it") and once they find it's fantastic come back next week saying - "can I have another one?" - "Er sorry I did my pigs last week, next lot in two months time", "Sorry didn't realise, thought i could just buy a bit each week, like at Sainsbury's" - they somehow think you do you pig off a bit at a time!

A lot of people are put off by "half a pig" or "1/4 pig"  - they have no idea how much they will get and what they will get, and worry about delivery of pigs heads and trotters, and all sorts of bits of pig they will have no idea what to do with.  So we sell a "mixed box" costing Ł25, Ł40 or Ł80.  We say that in your mixed box you will get chops, sausages and some joints and pork cuts.  This sounds friendlier.  We have friends who also put in recipe cards for things such as belly, to encourage future sales (a quick google will get you loads of on-line recipes that are yummy!).  When we sort we know that Aunty Hilda lives on her own, so small joints for her, Fred has a huge family (and stomach to match) so that waking great leg joint will do him - that way you get to divide and sell all you have (remembering to give yourself a box!).

We also encourage you to take deposits, particularly from family - they see no problem is saying "yes I know I said I would take 3 leg joints, but my freezers still a bit full - sorry!" and then just walking away!

So yes family & friends - no problem as private sale, jo public - lots of rules !

Have fun

PS - Tish, those recipes look fantastic will give them a try !

Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: Sudanpan on November 12, 2010, 06:52:46 pm
could they be made without the booze? dont touch the stuff.

I love pate those recipes sound yummy

In fact I made them without alcohol cos we don't tend to have brandy knocking around the place! We thought they were really tasty  :D
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 13, 2010, 12:00:37 pm
Oaklandpigs...thats a great idea to do a mixed box. Wow!...lots of possibilities for family and friends...thanks again! :)
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: farmershort on November 18, 2010, 08:59:07 am
We had this dilema when we started up in 2004/2005.

The local enviro health man from the council came to check my landy, looked in the back, and said "yes, as long as you dont have the chainsaw in here on the day you collect the pork, then I certify it for transport"... :)

the basic blocks were thus:

abattoir cuts up & bags the meat, then boxes it. We NEVER handle the raw meat.... ;)

we are then allowed "a few hours" (his words), to deliver the meat to our customers.

That's it... nothing more needed to be done. This labelling thing confuses me if I'm honest, and I never get the same answer twice. We dont do it, but we dont advertise in a big way either. All our customers know what they're getting, that seems to be enough.

The problems come when you start mentioning that you use your freezer at home to store the meat until it's sold, or when you want to 'add value' by making sausages. Then you have to have a kitchen that's signed off for food prep... I'm pretty sure you have to have a food hygene cert as well... the temps of your freezers have to noted down daily (maybe twice daily actually)... and you need "adequate hand washing facilities"... which is open to interpretation.

If you can get the butcher to make your sausages for you... and you can sell to the "unknown public" only the fresh stuff, you probably get round most of this crap. It's worth getting the enviro health people to cert your car for delivery though.... shows you're making the effort. :)

HTH
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 18, 2010, 10:31:22 am


Hi farmershort....made me laugh about the landy!! Thanks for the reply...very interesting

These are my first pigs and I have a butcher coming to my place to cut pigs....with my help ( I have a very large workshop, sharp knife, hacksaw, plenty of big hooks, huge chest freezer, large larder fridge..in my garage.. a mincer that does 180kg an hour and a large bottle of gin and a fixed grin pretending its all under control!)
 The only reason I am doing this is because I have heard a couple of bad reports about the butchery side of the abbatoir Im sending my pigs to.... not getting your meat back, pork missing,cutting not upto standard and how do you know its your pork going into your sausages??? It might be fine there but i would rather not risk it as these are my first pigs and I'm fussy!
I have butchered half a pig twice before and I am pretty good at cutting a deer....also I have made sausages plenty of times, so I know its going to be a very long couple of days....and now I realise that selling to family and friends is my only option as butchering is being done on my property. Rules and regs eh??
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: farmershort on November 18, 2010, 10:38:57 am


Hi farmershort....made me laugh about the landy!! Thanks for the reply...very interesting

These are my first pigs and I have a butcher coming to my place to cut pigs....with my help ( I have a very large workshop, sharp knife, hacksaw, plenty of big hooks, huge chest freezer, large larder fridge..in my garage.. a mincer that does 180kg an hour and a large bottle of gin and a fixed grin pretending its all under control!)
 The only reason I am doing this is because I have heard a couple of bad reports about the butchery side of the abbatoir Im sending my pigs to.... not getting your meat back, pork missing,cutting not upto standard and how do you know its your pork going into your sausages??? It might be fine there but i would rather not risk it as these are my first pigs and I'm fussy!
I have butchered half a pig twice before and I am pretty good at cutting a deer....also I have made sausages plenty of times, so I know its going to be a very long couple of days....and now I realise that selling to family and friends is my only option as butchering is being done on my property. Rules and regs eh??

Ok... looks like you've scuppered yourself on the selling front though - your premises will need to be inspected, registered, blah blah blah - basically, everything you have to do for a restaurant kitchen.

We send our pigs to be kill & split at the abattoir, and nowadays we get a local butcher to pick up the carcasses, and joint up / make sausages, back at his shop. There'll always be the "how do we know it's our pig" questions, but you have to have a little faith sometimes..... perhaps not so much with abattoir men though... ;)

we switch to a butcher, rather than the abattoir for the cutting & sausages for simialr reasons... consistency of the cuts, sausage mix, flavour/quality of the sausages... I'm happy with how it's working now - and christ knows the butcher makes a better job of it than I would - plus, it helps keep a local butcher in business.
Title: Re: Regulations for selling pork to general public?
Post by: sarha on November 19, 2010, 11:41:10 am
Yes...well and truly buggered!!!! Oh well! Heres to more planning for the next lot :pig:

Good job I have a large family :)

Thanks for reply anyway...very helpful!:)