Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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740. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the specific meaning of the codes, such as 363 EC, found on packaged meat sold in Irish retail outlets; the extent to which these codes identify the method of slaughter; and whether the Department intends to make such information more transparent to consumers. [51354/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Where a food business handles and/or processes foods of animal origin that may need approval under the European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 22/2020) they must apply to their Competent Authority and undergo a series of inspections. Once approved by the relevant competent authority, the food business is assigned a unique reference number called an ‘approval number’ which is listed in the database of approved establishments and appears on the Certificate of Approval granted to the food business in accordance with Regulation 7 of S.I. 22/2020.

Food Business Operators must not place a product of animal origin handled in an establishment subject to approval on a market unless it has an identification mark applied in accordance with Annex II, Section 1 of Regulation (EC) 853/2004.

The identification mark must indicate:

• The name of the country in which the establishment is located (e.g., IRELAND, or IE)
• The approval number of the establishment
• The abbreviation ‘EC’ (or one of the variations listed in Annex II, Section 1 of Regulation (EC) 853/2004).