"Meat products working group from the beginning - a look back" (PDF)
Dr Regina Seideneck
Chemical and
Veterinary Investigation Office Detmold
Westerfeldstraße 1
32758 Detmold
Tel.: 05231-873
Email: Regina.Seideneck@cvua-owl.de
Dr Dörte Rieckhoff
LAVES Food and
Veterinary Institute Oldenburg
Phone: 0441-9985260
Email: doerte.rieckhoff@laves.niedersachsen.de
Dr Astrid Hruschka
Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office
Münsterland-Emscher-Lippe
astrid.hruschka@cvua-mel.de
Amtsperiode 2026 -2028
Calculation basics (an Excel spreadsheet for calculating the meat proportions based on the above definitions and equations)
Assessment criteria for meat products of major market importance for the whole of Germany
In addition to the guidelines for meat and meat products in the German Food Codex, the assessment criteria of the Meat Products Working Group describe the general market perception of meat products. Guideline number 1.3.1 "Value-determining components" of the guidelines states that the fat/meat protein ratio and the water/meat protein ratio do not exceed the "conventional level" if there is a sufficient content of connective tissue protein-free meat protein. The assessment practice showed that it made sense to propose further comparative values on the basis of the basic parameters crude protein, fat and water, the ratios fat/meat protein and water/meat protein as a supplement to the guidelines, so to speak, as an expression of the prevailing public opinion. The average natural water/meat protein ratios of the respective types of meat used are usually used as a basis for calculating the proportion of added water (above the natural level) - if it has to be stated to supplement the name of the food or as an ingredient in the list of ingredients - and for calculating the proportion of meat from chemical analysis results.
Assessment criteria as PDF (as of 2022)