Glossary of the food sector

Marine biotoxins

Toxic substances accumulated by bivalve molluscs through the absorption of toxin-containing plankton.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I

Match

A number of animals or a quantity of goods listed on the same official certificate, official attestation, or other document, travelling by the same means of transport and originating from the same territory or third country and, with the exception of goods subject to the provisions of Article 1(2)(g) [of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Editor's note], of the same type, class, or description.

— Source: Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Art. 3(37)

Maximum residue level (MRL)

Maximum permitted concentrations of pesticide residues in or on food or feed, established pursuant to this Regulation and based on good agricultural practices and the lowest level of consumer exposure necessary to protect vulnerable consumers.

— Source: Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, Art. 3(2)(d)

Meat

All edible parts of the animals referred to in points 1.2 to 1.8 of Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 [domestic ungulates, poultry, lagomorphs, wild game, wild ungulates and lagomorphs, and other land mammals hunted for human consumption, game birds, farmed game, small wild game, large wild game, Editor's note], including blood.

— Source: Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004, Annex I

Meat (US term)

The part of the muscle of any cattle, sheep, swine, or goats which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart, or esophagus, with or without the accompanying and overlying fat, and the portions of bone (in bone-in product such as T-bone or porterhouse steak), skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and that are not separated from it in the process of dressing. As applied to products of equines, this term has a comparable meaning.

(i) Meat does not include the muscle found in the lips, snout, or ears.

(ii) Meat may not include significant portions of bone, including hard bone and related components, such as bone marrow, or any amount of brain, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, or dorsal root ganglia (DRG).

— Source: 9 CFR 301.2

Meat preparations

Fresh meat, including meat reduced to fragments, which has undergone the addition of foodstuffs, seasonings, or additives, or undergone treatments insufficient to modify the internal muscle-fiber structure of the meat and thus eliminate the characteristics of fresh meat.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I, point 1.15

Meat products

Processed products resulting from the processing of meat or the further processing of such processed products in such a way that the cut surface reveals the disappearance of the characteristics of fresh meat.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I

Mechanically separated fishery product

Product obtained by removing the flesh from fishery products using mechanical means that result in the loss or modification of the flesh structure.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I

Mechanically separated meat (MSM)

Product obtained by removing meat from fleshy bones after boning or from poultry carcasses, using mechanical means that result in the loss or modification of the muscle-fibrous structure.

— Source: Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, Annex I, point 1.14

Melted animal fat

Fat rendered from meat, including bones, intended for human consumption.

—Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I

Metabolite

Any metabolite or degradation product of an active substance, safener, or synergist that is formed in organisms or the environment. A metabolite is considered relevant if there are reasons to believe that it possesses intrinsic properties comparable to those of the parent substance in terms of target biological activity, or poses a higher or comparable risk to organisms than the parent substance, or possesses certain toxicological properties that are considered unacceptable. This metabolite is relevant to the overall approval decision or to the definition of risk mitigation measures.

— Source: Regulation (EU) 1107/2009, Art. 3(32)

Microbiological criterion

A criterion that defines the acceptability of a product, a batch of food products, or a process based on the absence, presence, or number of microorganisms and/or the quantity of their toxins/metabolites, per unit of mass, volume, area, or batch.

—Source: Regulation (EC) 2073/2005, Art. 2(b)

Microorganisms

Bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds, algae, parasitic protozoa, microscopic parasitic helminths, their toxins, and metabolites.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 2073/2005, Art. 2(a)

Microorganisms

Microbiological entities, including fungi and lower viruses, whether cellular or non-cellular, capable of replication or of transferring genetic material.

— Source: Reg. (EU) 1107/2009, Art. 3(15)

Milk production company

Establishment with animals intended for the production of milk for human consumption.

— Source: Regulation (EC) 853/2004, Annex I