The origin of all meat served in French restaurants must be indicated from March 1

The origin of all meat served in French out-of-home catering, from school canteens to company canteens and restaurants, must be indicated from March 1, according to a decree published this Thursday in the Official Journal that franceinfo has could consult. “I am very happy to be able, through these transparency measures, to promote products from our territories, from French farms which are farms of excellence”reacted on franceinfo the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, who evokes “many months of legal battle” to be able to set this up.

This obligation has only concerned beef since 2002. It will now also be applied to pork, poultry, lamb and mutton. The packaging of this meat must specify the country of breeding and the country of slaughter. It will also be necessary to mention whether it is fresh, chilled, frozen or deep-frozen meat. “It’s a way to support our own farms and maintain the link with breeders”he defended.

According to the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, “this measure has a nutritional objective” : “When you compare a Ukrainian or Brazilian chicken with a French chicken, it has nothing to do. My fight is that of food quality.” He assures that this will notably make it possible to improve the quality of the meat served to children in school canteens. “We feel that local products are increasingly popular and used, especially for canteens.”

According to ministry figures, 50% of the meat consumed in school canteens is imported. This is the case for 60% of poultry in collective catering. “It was a very strong expectation of parents of students, of consumers, to be able to have this indication, this transparency as to the origin of the meats that we consume and that our children consume in school canteens”.