Meat Products Order

Meat Products Order (MPO)
This order regulates manufacture, quality and sale of meat and all meat
products. Provisions are meant to control production, quality and distribution
of raw and processed meat. This makes it illegal to transport meat unless it has
been prepared and processed according to the provisions of the order and
carries the mark of inspection.
It provides means to
(a) Detect and destroy meat of diseased animals
(b) Ensure that the preparation and handling of meat and meat products is
conducted in a clean and sanitary manner
(c) Prevent the use of harmful substances in meat foods.
(d) See that every piece of cut meat is inspected before sale to ensure its
wholesomeness.
Regulation for the production of meat products are covered by the Meat
Food Products Order, 1973.
The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection at the ministry of Agriculture is

the regulatory for the order, which is equally applicable to domestic processors
and importers of meat products. The order -
1. Species sanitation and hygiene requirements for slaughter houses and

manufacture of meat products.
2. It also contains packing, marking and labeling provisions for containers of

meat products.
3. Defines the permissible quantity of heavy metals, preservatives and

insecticide residues in meat products.
Ministry of Food processing industries administers Meat Food Products

order (MFPO), 1973 which ensure quality and hygienic production of meat
food products including fish products
Meat food products are regulated through licensing under MFPO, 1973.
Provision of MFPO requires on four stages of inspection by qualified veterinary
doctors for hygienic production of meat products
• Ante-mortem inspection of animals before slaughter
• Post-mortem inspection of animals after slaughter
• In-process physical inspection of meat, sanitary and hygienic processing in

licensed unit
• Sampling and analysis of meat products in meat testing laboratories for

various parameters
The order also lays down the rules and conditions for procedure to be
adopted for the selection of disease free animals, slaughterhouse practices and
further treatment of the meat so as to maintain the meat in a wholesome
manner, devoid of pathogens.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1962. The Codex

Alimentarius which means “Food law” or “Food code” in Latin. The Codex
Alimentarius Commission develops food standards, guidelines and related
texts such as codes of practice under the joint FAO/WHO food standards
program. It is also called Codex harmonized international standards due to
involvement of both FAO and WHO.
· The dual objectives of the Codex Alimentarius commission are to protect

the health of consumers and to facilitate the international trade.
· It brings all together all the interested parties like scientists, technical
experts, governments, consumers and industry representatives to help
develop standards for food manufacturing and trade.
· These standards, guidelines and recommendations are recognized

worldwide for their vital role in protecting the consumers and facilitating
international trade.
· The codex contract point in India is the Directorate General of Health

Services (DGHS) in the ministry of Health; however the ministry of food
processing industries is closely associated with the activities of
Codex Alimentarius.
Salient features of Codex Alimentarius:
· Protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices
· Promoting coordination of all food standards work

undertaken by international governmental and non-
governmental organizations
· Determining priorities and initiating and guiding the preparation of

draft standards
· Finalizing the standards
· Amending published standards

· Submission of proposal for a standard
· A decision by the commission or the executive committee
· Preparation of a proposed draft standard by subsidiary body
· Adoption of standard by the commission
· Addition of CODEX STANDARD in the Codex Alimentarius.
The Codex secretariat is located at Rome and is financed jointly by the FAO and
the WHO. At present there are 170 countries, including India as Codex
members and this covers
98 per cent of the world‟s population. The codex commission meets every two
years either in Rome or in Geneva.
Codex can be divided in to three main groups
1. The commodity standards committee work vertically dealing with food

products such as processed fruits and vegetables , fats and oil, fresh fruit and
vegetables, natural mineral water, cocoa products and chocolates, fish and
fishery products, sugar, milk, products, cereal and meat products.
2. The general subject committees work horizontally on standards such

veterinary drug residues, food additives and contaminants, pesticide residues,
hygiene, labeling, inspection and certification systems, analysis and sampling,
nutrition and foods for special dietary uses.
3. The six regional coordinating committees are based in Africa, Asia, Europe,
Latin America and Caribbean, North America and South West Pacific and the
near East.
Codex decisions are not binding on its members not has any formal legal
status, prior to the signing of the General Agreement on Tariff and trade, GATT
in December 1994. Foods everywhere will ultimately be influenced by codex in
many different dimensions- in safety standards, food additives, pesticide uses,
labeling of pre- packed foods, international trade, competition and pricing, be
the foods locally grown or imported from the other side of the world.
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS PROCEDURAL MANUAL: Criteria for the establishment
of work priorities:
When a Codex Committee proposes to elaborate a standard, code of practice

or related text within its terms of reference, it should first consider the
priorities established by the Commission in the Medium-Term Plan of Work,
any specific relevant strategic project currently being undertaken by the
Commission and the prospect of completing the work within a reasonable
period of time. It should also assess the proposal against the criteria set out
below.
If the proposal falls in an area outside the Committee‟s terms of reference the
proposal should be reported to the Commission in writing together with
proposals for such amendments to the Committee‟s terms of reference as may
be required.
Criteria applicable to commodities:
(a) Consumer protection from the point of view of health and

fraudulent practices.
(b) Volume of production and consumption in individual countries and volume

and pattern of trade between countries.
(c) Diversification of national legislations and apparent resultant or potential

impediments to international trade.
(d) International or regional market potential.
(e) Amenability of the commodity to standardization.
(f) Coverage of the main consumer protection and trade issues by existing or
proposed general standards.
(g) Number of commodities which would need separate standards indicating

whether raw, semi processed or processed
(h) Work already undertaken by other international organizations in this field

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Meat Products Order (MPO)

(a) Detect and destroy meat of diseased animals

(c) Prevent the use of harmful substances in meat foods.

The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection at the ministry of Agriculture is

1. Species sanitation and hygiene requirements for slaughter houses and

2. It also contains packing, marking and labeling provisions for containers of

3. Defines the permissible quantity of heavy metals, preservatives and

Ministry of Food processing industries administers Meat Food Products

• Ante-mortem inspection of animals before slaughter

• Post-mortem inspection of animals after slaughter

• In-process physical inspection of meat, sanitary and hygienic processing in

• Sampling and analysis of meat products in meat testing laboratories for

Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1962. The Codex

· The dual objectives of the Codex Alimentarius commission are to protect

· These standards, guidelines and recommendations are recognized

· The codex contract point in India is the Directorate General of Health

Salient features of Codex Alimentarius:

· Protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices

· Promoting coordination of all food standards work

· Determining priorities and initiating and guiding the preparation of

· Finalizing the standards

· Amending published standards

· A decision by the commission or the executive committee

· Preparation of a proposed draft standard by subsidiary body

· Adoption of standard by the commission

· Addition of CODEX STANDARD in the Codex Alimentarius.

Codex can be divided in to three main groups

1. The commodity standards committee work vertically dealing with food

2. The general subject committees work horizontally on standards such

When a Codex Committee proposes to elaborate a standard, code of practice

Criteria applicable to commodities:

(a) Consumer protection from the point of view of health and

(b) Volume of production and consumption in individual countries and volume

(c) Diversification of national legislations and apparent resultant or potential

(e) Amenability of the commodity to standardization.

(g) Number of commodities which would need separate standards indicating

(h) Work already undertaken by other international organizations in this field

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