[littlelisa]

please can someone give me info or point me in the direction to find out :- what rule/regs/laws i need to follow for selling meat in halfs etc?
if you cut it up are there even more regs to follow??
can you really get away with selling to friends and family without having follow any regs???
thanks

[waterhouse]

Are there any regs about keeping feed: does one need to keep batch numbers or anything?

[lachlanandmarcus]

When I was inspected they didnt seem to expect me to record batch numbers but I def had to have the current sacks labels intact as they take samples of the feed to check for contamination and they record the batch numbers against the samples. I dont sell any meat currently. The thing they were hottest on was to keep non veggie animals feed away from veggie animals feed and ruminant feed away from non ruminants. SO  the most important thing is that dog cat and chicken feed (chicken feed has fish oil in it which they need being omnivores) away from the sheep feed and the horse feed. They also expected separate feeding buckets and feed bins (Bins had to be vermin proof) and each labelled (partly so if you were away/ill and someone else unfamiliar was feeding they didnt get them all mixed up). They also looked at tagging and ID records.

I do think if you sell any meat you are supposed to keep all the labels and record them in a book so if a customer gets ill they can trace back if the feed was an issue)

[Fleecewife]

As lachlanandmarcus said plus you need to keep your feed sack labels for 3 months. You need all your receipts from the slaughterhouse, butcher etc - the tags which come back with each carcass will do.

Carcases are stamped at the abattoir so that after jointing the stamps can still be seen.

I have sold meat in the past and had it cut and packed by a butcher, to conform with regs. I have also bought a wild boar carcase and collected it uncut from the abattoir, but not to sell on.  If you are going to cut meat at home then sell on the joints, you have to be inspected by Trading Standards and conform to regs. Before those laws came in we were able to collect the carcases from the abattoir then have them cut up in our own kitchen.

I think that if you sell meat from a freezer then there are further regs about that - dedicated freezer, use-by dates and so on.  Best to check with Trading Standards.

[cooper956]

we sold eter half or full lambs last year ony 3 but went to  slaughterhouse and where butchered there i was told by another farmer that on collection from the butcher thay had to be delivered or collected to the cusomer withing a certem time or you have to have a cold store i was under the impreshion that if you sell less than a half or frozen that more rules apply?

[lovejacobs]

I sell boxed meat each year. I arrange a delivery date, collect the meat, bagged, labelled and boxed from the butchers at the abatoir, then take it directly to the customer. I don't touch the meat myself at all as I have been warned that there are fearsome regulations about hygiene etc. The consensus from all I have talked to is that it is OK to do this. I should add I have ice blocks in the boxes to keep the meat cool. 

[andywalt]

I do the same......abattoir to the client