gastronomy
Will there be another meat logo for restaurants?
It’s not just during Advent that many people like to eat out. However, there is currently no information about animal husbandry in the menu for steaks etc. Something is happening in the Bundestag – but implementation is uncertain.
Many supermarket customers already know it from the refrigerated counters: When it comes to schnitzel, package labels with the imprint “Human condition” show how the pig once lived in the stable – and a similar state logo will soon be added. But what about Jägerschnitzel in the restaurant and roast pork in the canteen? Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) has long been aiming to extend mandatory labeling to the catering industry. After the traffic light coalition with the FDP ended, there is now a red-green plan. Too late?
The Bundestag is expected to consider the concept for a possible next stage of the state logo shortly before Christmas. “In out-of-home catering, there is usually little or no information about the conditions in which the animals from which the food comes are kept,” says a draft law submitted by the SPD and the Greens. In order to meet consumers’ desire for more transparency, labeling should also be expanded there.
New information for menus
Specifically, it is important that information about the way animals are kept should also be found in menus, price lists or notices. This would allow guests in restaurants, canteens or snack bars to make “an informed purchasing decision”. A system with five husbandry categories from the legal minimum requirements to “organic” will be used, which will be mandatory for domestic products from August 2025 – initially only for fresh pork in supermarkets. There has been a widespread voluntary “keeping style” labeling of retail chains for a long time.
Application in out-of-home catering with changing dishes is not an easy task. The draft assumes 150,000 businesses nationwide, from restaurants to snack bars, canteens and cafeterias to clinics and nursing homes. Because of the labeling, for example, in restaurants with full service, “ten adjustments to menus” are assumed per year – and in snack bars, ten menu changes are made every two years.
No labeling of bacon in roulades
The labeling does not have to be attached directly to the product or nearby – like in the supermarket. There are various options to make it easier: on menus that you can browse through or digitally. It would also be possible to have a note on the counter or in the menu that the farming methods can be viewed upon request. And in the case of pork roulades, for example, only the meat would have to be labeled – this would not be necessary for wrapped bacon or ham for further flavoring.
The catering industry rejected new labeling requirements for animal husbandry. The expansion to out-of-home catering means disproportionate additional bureaucratic effort and presents companies such as food inspections with tasks that are practically impossible to solve, said the general manager of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, Ingrid Hartges. Labels on individual dishes would make menus unreadable.
Industry: Constant changes in recipes
“In contrast to the supermarket, a guest in a restaurant cannot choose between different ways of keeping the pig when eating a schnitzel,” explained Hartges. In addition, recipes for dishes are constantly changing, and if delivery bottlenecks occur, restaurateurs would have to switch to other suppliers. There is also no reliable data as to whether restaurant guests are even interested in animal husbandry information. Taste and price are the decisive factors for most guests.
The bill is expected to come to parliament on December 20th. This is usually followed by committee deliberations. Whether and when things will continue is uncertain given the new election on February 23rd. After the traffic lights went out, the SPD and the Greens no longer have a majority. Green nutrition expert Renate Künast promoted the plans, which would bring transparency for customers and planning security for farmers. “Those who maintain good standards want to market appropriately not only in retail but also in the catering industry.”
Majority in the Bundestag uncertain
Künast called on the Union and FDP for support. “Parliament must work until the electoral term actually ends.” However, the former liberal partner continued to show rejection. “With the animal husbandry logo, we have taken a first step towards how consumers can choose better animal husbandry directly at the store counter without higher taxes, duties or hassle,” said parliamentary group vice-president Carina Konrad. However, the FDP in the coalition was unable to support the expansion to the catering industry because the bureaucracy would be enormous, especially for small catering businesses.
dpa
Source: Stern
