ANNEX IISupplementary provisions
ANNEX II Freezing treatments A. Freezing method 1 (a) Meat brought in already frozen is to be kept in this condition. (b) The technical equipment and energy supply of the refrigeration room must be such as to ensure that the required temperature is reached very rapidly and maintained in all parts of the room and of the meat. (c) Insulated packaging must be removed before freezing, except in the case of meat that is already at the required temperature throughout when it is brought into the refrigeration room or meat so packaged that the packaging will not prevent it from reaching the required temperature within the specified time. (d) Consignments in the refrigeration room must be kept separately and under lock and key. (e) The date and time when each consignment is brought into the refrigeration room must be recorded. (f) The temperature in the refrigeration room must be at least – 25 °C. It must be measured using calibrated thermo-electric instruments and recorded continuously. It may not be measured directly in the cold air flow. The instruments must be kept under lock and key. The temperature charts must include the relevant data from the meat inspection register on import and the date and time of commencement and completion of freezing, and must be retained for one year after compilation. (g) Meat of a diameter or thickness of up to 25 cm must be frozen for at least 240 consecutive hours, and meat of a diameter or thickness of between 25 and 50 cm must be frozen for at least 480 consecutive hours. This freezing process must not be applied to meat that is thicker or of a larger diameter. The freezing time is calculated from the point when the temperature in the freezing room reaches that specified in point (f). B. Freezing method 2 The general provisions of points (a) to (e) of Section A (method 1) are complied with, and the following time-temperature combinations applied: (a) meat of a diameter or thickness of up to 15 cm must be frozen for one of the following time-temperature combinations: — 20 days at – 15 °C, — 10 days at – 23 °C, — 6 days at – 29 °C. (b) meat of a diameter or thickness of between 15 cm and 50 cm must be frozen for one of the following time-temperature combinations: — 30 days at – 15 °C, — 20 days at – 25 °C, — 12 days at – 29 °C. The temperature in the refrigeration room must be no higher than the level of the selected inactivation temperature. It must be measured using calibrated thermo-electric instruments and recorded continuously. It must not be measured directly in the cold air flow. The instruments must be kept under lock and key. The temperature charts must include the relevant data from the meat inspection register on importation and the date and time of commencement and completion of freezing, and must be retained for one year after compilation. Where freezing tunnels are used and the procedures described in Sections A and B are not followed strictly, the food business operator must be able to prove to the competent authority that the alternative method is effective in killing Trichinella parasites in pigmeat. C. Freezing method 3 Treatment consists of commercial freeze-drying or freezing of meat for specified time-temperature combinations with temperature monitored at the centre of each cut. (a) The general provisions of points (a) to (e) of Section A (method 1) are to be complied with for the following time-temperature combinations: — 106 hours at – 18 °C, — 82 hours at – 21 °C, — 63 hours at – 23,5 °C, — 48 hours at – 26 °C, — 35 hours at – 29 °C, — 22 hours at – 32 °C, — 8 hours at – 35 °C, — 1/2 hour at – 37 °C. (b) The temperature is to be measured using calibrated thermo-electric instruments and recorded continuously. The thermometer probe is inserted in the centre of a cut of meat no smaller in size than the thickest piece of meat to be frozen. This cut must be placed at the least favourable position in the refrigeration room, not close to the cooling equipment or directly in the cold airflow. The instruments must be kept under lock and key. The temperature charts must include the data numbers from the meat inspection register on import and the date and time of commencement and completion of freezing, and must be retained for one year after compilation.