From 2024, manufacturers of semi-finished pieces of beef will be able to produce products in accordance with GOST 34982-2023

The initiator of the development of the standard was the Technical Committee 226 “Meat and MEAT Products” (TK 226) of Rosstandart, operating on the basis of the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems named after. Gorbatova. Members of the Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan voted for the adoption of the normative act.

According to the developers, the scope of application of GOST 34982-2023 is semi-finished pieces of beef of 39 items of various categories (A and B), intended for sale in trade and public catering networks. The group of lumpy semi-finished products includes large-piece and small-piece meat for stewing, baking and grilling - steak, fillet, roast beef, entrecote, steak, goulash, azu, frying and much more. The declared range of products can be sold in chilled or frozen form.

The standard establishes regulated requirements for raw meat, materials, quality of finished products, labeling, packaging, acceptance rules, control methods, transportation and storage, which should ensure the production of safe products of guaranteed quality. “The range of high-quality beef steaks provided for by the standard will be a worthy alternative to imported products. For semi-finished products made from high-quality beef, the marbling indicator has been determined and a ban on the use of frozen meat raw materials has been introduced,” commented the HEAD of the technical regulation department of the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems. Gorbatova, standardization expert Yulia Kuzlyakina.

The document also regulates such indicators as the size, weight and shape of semi-finished products. To obtain products, requirements have been established for organoleptic, physico-chemical, microbiological indicators, as well as safety indicators. For example, for each name of semi-finished product, a description of the appearance, smell, as well as the color of muscle tissue and fat is given.

As added by the representative of the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems. Gorbatov, the main reason for introducing the regulatory document was the need to increase the competitiveness of products in domestic and international markets due to the growth in trade turnover in this group of products and the disorderly use of GOST names in product labeling. From 2024, food enterprises will be able to continue to produce products according to the interstate standard or according to their own technical conditions.