Where does your steak come from?

As the only EU member state, the Slovak Republic adopted a meat origin amendment to the food law which imposes an obligation on all restaurants and caterers to inform consumers about the country of origin of raw pork, beef, lamb, goat, and poultry meat. The country of origin must be displayed in writing at a clearly visible place (in the menu or on a stand, for example).

The obligation has been adopted by the amendment of the Act on food and is effective as of 14 December 2019. One of the reasons for adopting the amendment were recent food scandals in other countries. Also, the aim of the legislator was to improve consumer’s knowledge about the origin of the meat and to increase the share of the Slovak meat on the tables as well.

The new regulation has been sharply criticised by the Slovak Association of Hotels and Restaurants (SAHR). According to the official statement of SAHR, this obligation is unnecessary and unfounded. The obligation to indicate the meat origin does not apply in any of the EU countries and in case of Slovakia we go beyond the usual practice in EU. SAHR stated that the recent food scandals have not been caused by the breach of hygienic law by Slovak restaurants or other facilities. The reason was insufficient fulfillment of obligations from the control bodies of the EU and failure in communication with the national control bodies and reporting about movement of the unhealthy food. Besides that, there has not been a single case of consumer’s health damage in the Slovak Republic.

It is true that food facilities including restaurants are at the end of the chain. If the legislator wants to prevent any damage or provide protection to consumer’s rights it should take measures to improve control activities at the beginning of the production (and not at the end). Taking any orders or prohibition under the penalty is another unnecessary administrative burden and over-regulation so typical for this country and region.